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Apple Pay Release Date Confirmed by Apple

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While rumors have been wildly flying around about a possible release date for Apple Pay, the company announced today that it will be officially launching its digital payment platform on Monday, October 20.

Apple unveiled Apple Pay last month during its iPhone 6 event, but the platform has yet to release to the public. However, users will only have to spend one more shopping weekend before they can begin using the new payment service.

At first, rumors suggested that Apple Pay would launch alongside of the iOS 8.1 update, and it looks like that will be the case, since iOS 8.1 will launch on Monday as well.

Apple Pay is essentially the company’s own digital wallet platform to take on the growing market of digital payment systems that already released by companies like Google in the past. However, Apple aims to do it a bit differently.

Screenshot 2014-10-16 10.09.35

Apple Pay allows you to store your credit card information on your iPhone and use it to buy stuff at any store that supports Apple Pay. The iPhone 6 has an NFC chip that allows you to tap the pay terminal at a store to instantly buy goods. Furthermore, doing this doesn’t give the store your credit card information, so you’re less susceptible to store hacks that steal credit card information, similar to the recent Home Depot hack and the Target hacks.

Furthermore, your iPhone can be disabled to make payments if your device ever gets lost or stolen, that way your credit card information itself can’t be stolen — much more effective than having to call the credit card companies to cancel a card if it ever gets lost or stolen.

Apple Pay also works with mobile shopping apps, allowing you to pay with a single touch of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor in shopping apps that support the feature.

Currently, six major banks will support Apple Pay when it eventually launches, and they include American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo. Apple says that more banks will be coming soon, though, including Barclay, Navy Federal, PNC, USAA and US Bank, as well as around 500 other smaller banks.

If you’re currently a member of any of these banks, you’ll be able to add your credit or debit card from these banks quickly and easily to Apple Pay.

apple pay iphone 6

Apple Pay on the iPhone 6

Furthermore, Apple says that 220,000 store locations will accept Apple Pay as a payment method, and that number will no doubt continue to grow into 2015 and beyond.

The company already lists a handful of national chains that will support Apple Pay once it launches this month, including McDonald’s, Panera Bread, Staples, Walgreens, Subway, Whole Foods, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and the Disney Store.

As for apps that will accept one-touch payment with Apple Pay, there are plenty that are already on board with it. Some notable shopping apps include Groupon, Panera Bread, OpenTable, Starbucks, Sephora, Target, and even Uber.

MLB.com is another app that will support Apple Pay, which isn’t too surprising considering that the MLB has had a close relationship with Apple recently, as the league worked closely with the Cupertino-based company to launch iBeacon in MLB stadiums across the country earlier this year.

Of course, it’s important to note that while the list of stores and apps is still rather short at this point, Apple Pay hasn’t even launched yet, so we’d take a big guess and say that more and more stores and shopping apps will add support for Apple Pay once the service launches to the public later this month.

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