Editors’ word: This piece was up to date on October 16, 2014, to replicate extra information following Apple’s October press occasion.

Whereas Apple lovers might typically discover their wallets emptying out with every new product announcement, wallets might actually begin slimming down, because of Apple’s not too long ago introduced iOS characteristic, Apple Pay.

Launching in the US on Monday, October 20, with different international locations to comply with, the cell cost service works equally to Google Wallet and allows customers to streamline their retail and on-line buying expertise with the iPhone 6 , the 6 Plus and the Apple Watch .

In accordance with Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner, getting concerned in funds is a pure development for the corporate and is a large enterprise.

“Each day between credit score and debit, we spend over $12 billion,” Prepare dinner stated throughout a September press occasion when Apple Pay was first launched. “That is over $4 trillion a yr, and that is simply within the US.”

With the service, customers can add bank cards which might be already on file with their iTunes accounts and add new playing cards to retailer on their iPhones. These playing cards can be built-in into PassBook, an current iOS app that consolidates a person’s coupons, membership playing cards, and ticket passes. Bank cards will be added by way of the digicam, which can then be verified by their issuing banks to verify that they certainly belong to the rightful proprietor.

The newest pair of iPhones are outfitted with two chips: near-field communication (NFC), which is widespread in Android handsets, and Safe Ingredient. In conjunction with the handset’s built-in TouchID fingerprint reader, customers can carry out cell funds at retail retailers by tapping their gadget with an NFC reader and confirming the acquisition with their fingerprint.

Due to the iOS 8.1 update , different iOS gadgets can use Apple Pay, too. However with out NFC, in-store purchases aren’t supported; as a substitute, customers are restricted to approving on-line in-app purchases with their TouchID fingerprints. Firms which might be already on-board embrace Uber and Groupon, in addition to OpenTable, which customers can use to pay for restaurant meals.

Apple Pay additionally creates a “device-only” account quantity that works with Safe Ingredient to generate one-time-use safety codes with each transaction. This provides an additional layer of safety in opposition to knowledge breaches that use the static code seen on the again of every credit score card.

Within the occasion that an iPhone is lacking or stolen, customers can make use of the Find My iPhone characteristic to cancel all pending transactions. As well as, as a result of delicate bank card data is not saved instantly on the handset, customers will not should cancel the cardboard if the cellphone is misplaced.

Emphasizing safety, Apple Senior Vice President of Web Software program and Providers Eddy Cue stated that the corporate doesn’t hold information of what customers purchase, the place they purchase it or how a lot they paid. Likewise, when utilizing Apple Pay, cashiers can be unable to see your title, credit score card quantity or safety code.

The tech-giant has partnered with bank card corporations like American Specific, Grasp Card and Visa, in addition to quite a few widespread banks, together with Financial institution of America, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Chase, US Financial institution, Citi, Capital One, Navy Federal Credit score Union, USAA and PNC.

After its preliminary September announcement, Prepare dinner reported that Apple has added 500 more banks to the service, and that they may roll out help later this yr and early subsequent yr.

Within the US, there are already 220,000 service provider places that settle for cell funds, and Apple has been working with different retailers like McDonald’s, Goal, Subway and Entire Meals to combine its service as effectively. Even Disney is predicted to help Apple Pay in all its retail places by Christmas. iOS 8 can even have an Apple Pay API accessible for builders, so count on extra apps sooner or later to make use of this service, too.