Apple Pay will get a series of enhancements and updates with the iOS 9 release in the fall, the technology company announced today.
Jennifer Bailey, vice president of worldwide online stores, made the Apple Pay-related disclosures at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
IOS 9 is available to developers now. It will go into public beta in July, and be generally available in the fall, when the new batch of iPhones is expected.
Here’s the Apple Pay news unveiled today:
- Store loyalty cards for selected stores, prepaid and debit cards can be added to Wallet — the new name for Apple’s Passbook app.
- Discover cards can now be added to Apple Pay.
- Apple Pay will be enabled within the social media site Pinterest, which launched a Buy button to some fanfare back in February.
- Apple Pay will cross the Atlantic to the U.K. next month, where Apple announced partnerships with eight major banks. This is the first international appearance of the service.
- Square introduced an Apple Pay reader that will also accept EMV cards (and Android Pay.)
Of the loyalty-related news, which has been long expected, payment industry pundit Brian Roemmele said:
Beautiful integration of Gift and Loyalty cards on #ApplePay + Wallet. Predict a huge industry built around just this pic.twitter.com/raIRHev3vR
— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) June 8, 2015
Apple announced it is now working with 2,500 banks, and has added stores such as Trader Joe’s to its roster.
No one says Apple doesn’t put on a good show. Bailey’s appearance was something of a sensation, having been teased by Tim Cook leading up to the event.