Payment system kicks off with NFC-enabled iDevices

Oct 20, 2014 09:34 GMT  ·  By

As part of the iOS 8.1 rollout later today, the computer giant headquartered in Cupertino, California, will deploy Apple Pay, its new payment system that works with specific iPhones and iPads to pay for goods at more than 220,000 retail locations starting with the United States.

After ceremoniously unveiling a couple of new iPads and a couple of new Macs (really, only one in each category mattered), the Mac maker also confirmed that its all-new Apple Pay system would kick into gear the following week, on October 20, this Monday.

Available with iOS 8.1 on NFC devices

There are quite a few requirements for employing Apple Pay, as the company itself has outlined during the October 16 keynote address and in various documents on Apple.com.

For starters, you’ll need one of Apple’s newer devices that have NFC (Near Field Communication) chips and antennas on them. These include the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, for now. However, the NFC requirement is to be able to enjoy everything that Apple Pay has to offer. You can partially enjoy some perks on devices without NFC. However, these devices will at least need the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

As you may already know, these devices are the newest ones, starting with the iPhone 5s launched last year. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have the sensor as well, and most recently, the iPad range of tablets got the hardware too. iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are the only tablets that boast the sensor. Non NFC hardware like the iPads will only do Apple Pay online and in the iTunes Store.

Finally, iOS 8.1 will be required to switch on the Apple Pay system. Apple will be releasing the software later today as a free download for all of the aforementioned device models. Older devices are likely to get the firmware too, but only to add other new features, tweaks, and fixes.

Starts with 220K retail locations

“Our team has worked incredibly hard to make Apple Pay private and secure, with the simplicity of a single touch of your finger,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The reaction to Apple Pay has been amazing. We continue to add more Apple Pay ready banks, credit card companies and merchants, and think our users will love paying with Apple Pay.”

According to recent coverage of the Apple Pay initiative, Apple is starting off with a whopping 220,000 retail locations across the United States, including McDonald's, Walgreens, Bloomingdale’s, Macy's, Nike, Subway, Petco, Staples, RadioShack, and Chevron stations, among others. Best Buy and Wal-Mart are reserved regarding a potential partnership with Apple.