One of the guys who was buying the Nexus at the same time kept asking the employees if Google Wallet came with the phone, even after one employee said no, it's like he needed conformation from every other employee who walked by.
The guy ringing me up told him that Verizon decided not to go with google wallet because it wasn't as secure as they wanted it to be, and that Verizon would be doing their own thing. Sounded like he knew what he was talking about.
Its definitely possible to use. Considering I used it tonight and took advantage of the $10 Google gives you for activating it.
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/galaxy-nexus-development/187917-got-google-wallet-working.html
Look at the 3rd post.