Apple Pay, Apple's own mobile payments service, will be rolled out on Oct. 20, said company CEO Tim Cook in an event held on Oct. 16.
Cook revealed that there was massive support for the service, with a total of 500 banking institutions already forming partnerships with Apple since the announcement of the service during the unveiling of the new iPhones.
"It's easy, it's secure and yes, it's a private way to pay for things," Cook said. "We think that it is going to be profound."
Since the unveiling of Apple Pay in September, the service has also formed partnerships with big names in the banking industry such as MasterCard, Visa and American Express, along with several major issuing banks.
The service allows users to store the information of their credit cards on their iPhones to make payments in participating retailers. Users simply tap their iPhones on payment terminals, followed by having their fingerprints scanned on the sensor of the iPhone. The devices and terminals will include the NFC chips that are capable of storing payment information.
Apple Pay will go online in 220,000 merchant locations in the United States on Oct. 20, which are stores that already accept mobile payments using the short-range, secure wireless capabilities of the NFC chip.
Apple has previously said that it is working with major retailers, including companies such as Walgreens, Macy's, Staples, Duane Reade, Subway, Disney, McDonald's and Whole Foods, to be able to set up the Apple Pay service in physical locations.
McDonald's said last month that it will be adding the Apple Pay service to its drive-through counters. Disney, on the other hand, is expected to have outfitted with the Apple Pay service all its retail stores by Christmas.
Many have said that Apple Pay is a natural progression on the services offered by Apple, as the company already allowed millions upon millions of users to purchase apps, music and books through its Apple Store using credit cards linked to the iTunes accounts of the users.
The company has now expanded the payment service into a digital wallet, with Cook stating last month that it is the company's vision to replace the physical wallet completely, specifically the need to use the plastic cards of today.
One other component of Apple Pay that will be useful for customers is that making purchases on iOS apps would now only need the user to have their fingerprint scanned on the iPhone's sensor, eliminating the hassle of repeatedly inputting credit card information for in-app purchases.
Apple's competitors have released similar mobile payment systems in the past, including Google Wallet. However, none of the systems have gained enough of a following. Apple is looking to make the mobile payments service more mainstream with Apple Pay.
