Apple Pay Launch Date October 18th or 20th

Updated on

Apple Pay,  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new mobile payment service, could be launched a few days after today’s event, according to leaked information from various retailers and credit card companies. In the much-awaited event, the company is expected to show off new iPads, along with other products and services.

Apple Pay on Oct. 20?

Employees of a credit-card company partnering with Apple Pay have already completed their training and were informed that the service will be launched on Oct. 20, according to an employee who told this to MacRumors.

There was another detailed memo from Panera Bread that also speaks about the Apple Pay service launch on Oct. 20. The memo read, “As you are aware, Panera is a featured partner with Apple in their announcement of the iPhone 6 and the new Apple Pay platform,” and now the company is excited to share that Apple will release the service shortly on October 20.

Panera is also offering training to its employees like every other Apple Pay partner is doing. The training constitutes the ways in which Apple Pay payments will be accepted through the company’s Verifone point-of-sale-systems. Also the company has distributed short training videos to managers and cashiers, paired with FAQ and talking points.

Confusion over launch date

Just last week, Walgreens circulated an internal memo to its employees suggesting that the iPhone maker is all set to launch Apple Pay on Oct. 18, which suggests that the Oct. 20 launch date should be taken with a grain of salt. However, going by the trend, Oct. 20 looks more like a launch date compared to a weekend launch.

USAA, a bank partner of Apple, also revealed that it will start supporting Apple Pay on Nov. 7 but also made it clear that retailers and banks will start rolling out support for the service at different times.

Though there might be different dates being discussed now, it is clear that Apple Pay will be launched in few days. The service will be enabled through the next iOS 8 update, which will also be launched in the next few days. The beta version of iOS 8.1 is already being tested by the developers, and the OS contains hidden references to Apple Pay.

Leave a Comment