At its iPad conference today, Apple announced that its new NFC-based mobile payment service, Apple Pay, would roll out on Monday, October 20, concurrent with the iOS 8.1 update.
Apple says over 500 banks will support the service, and showed off dozens of retailers that have signed up already, promising more by the end of the year.
Apple first introduced Apple Pay during its iPhone and Apple Watch event a little over a month ago. Supporting Mastercard, Visa, and American Express cards, the company hopes to make in-store cashless transactions easier and more secure. The process generates a one-time payment number, and the merchant never sees your credit card information.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Of course, Apple Pay isn’t the first payment system to work with NFC technology. Google Wallet has been around for a while without tremendous success, but Apple hopes its loyal user base and simple TouchID authentication will help make payments via phone (or watch) the norm.
Apple also announced that Apple Pay would be coming to the new iPad Air 2, but it will only support online purchases – in-store payments are limited to the iPhone and Apple Watch.
Keep up with the rest of Apple’s announcements from its iPad event here
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.