I got the impression this is a lot like that iPhone writeable card -- i.e., you load in all your cards and then you can choose which card your Google Card represents. Lets you ditch all your cards and Google gets you to use wallet (which means they can push you in to using it as an actual payment wallet). And by getting you using Google Wallet, it'll encourage NFC adoption.
That uses a mounted magstripe writer, doesn't it? Or does the card have some sort of integrated rewriting electronics? I can't find any technical specifications.
It seems more likely the card will act like a prepaid 'passthrough' card as in the existing system.