Leaving aside Apple’s latest shiny hardware, in the shape of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6+ and the forthcoming Apple Watch, for those of us interested in personal finance, the most important announcement at yesterday’s event was the launch of Apple’s mobile payment system, Apple Pay.
Using Apple’s Passbook app (which up until now had provided limited use), users will be able to add their credit card details, to be stored in a secure part of their phone, and then pay for items either with a passcode (PIN) or more conveniently, using their fingerprint, thanks to the Touch ID scanner on the latest iPhones.
For this to take off, Apple needed to make the system as slick as possible; after all, paying with a credit card in the traditional manner isn’t exactly difficult. If the demonstration in the video below is anything like how it will be in the real world, then it’s probably about as slick as can be expected:
For a full run down on Apple Pay’s ins-and-outs, have a read of Pocket Lint’s comprehensive guide.
Apple Pay is due to launch in the US in October, but there aren’t currently any indications as to when it might launch elsewhere in the world.