As Apple Pay launches, some things to know
Apple is expected to release iOS 8.1 later today. When they do, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus device owners will be able to use Apple Pay, the company’s new mobile payment service that was first announced last month.
Ahead of the launch, The Wall Street Journal sat down with Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services.
Among the highlights:
The service won’t be “ubiquitous overnight.” Among the retailers not offering the service on launch day is Walmart, the nation’s largest. Also missing: proprietary cards from retailers. This is called “the big gaping hole in Apple Pay,” according to Richard Crone, founder of Crone Consulting, a payments advisory firm.
Cue notes that Apple has “a lot of work to do on the service.” He adds “we’re trying to do something that I think is a game changer and it requires a lot of people to play together. There’s a lot to do here and we have a lot of work to do, but it should be huge.”
Initially, Cue expects the majority of sales to come from in-app purchases.
For a full list of banks and businesses supporting Apple Pay on launch day, click here.
Apple is likely to release iOS 8.1 at 10 a.m. PDT. We’ll keep you updated.
See also: Here’s how you’ll pay for a Big Mac at a McDonald’s drive through with Apple Pay, How to set up Touch ID on your new iPhone 6, and Banks set to embrace Apple Pay, shower customers with advertising.
