iOS 8.1 beta points to support for Apple Pay
A hidden screen in the beta for Apple Pay reveals a pane where you can enter your credit or debit card information.
Apple's next major update to iOS will reportedly be able to tap into Apple Pay so you can pay for items through your iPhone.
A tweet posted by a developer named Hamza Sood shows what is purportedly a screenshot taken from the beta for
, which is currently available only to developers. The screen shows fields where you can enter your credit or debit card information, your billing and shipping addresses, your email address and your phone number.The screen also details Apple Pay's privacy policy, which states that your credit card and billing information may be collected by Apple and provided to your card issuer to protect against fraudulent transactions.
Unveiled on September 9 at Apple's iPhone 6 launch event, Apple Pay is the company's first real step into mobile payments. Using an iPhone enabled with near-field communication, consumers will be able to tap into Apple Pay to purchase items from participating merchants. Apple has been working with credit card companies, banks, and retailers to support the technology. The company says that more than 22,000 retailers have already agreed to accept payments through Apple Pay.
Apple Pay will also make use of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone to verify that the owner of the phone is the one signing off on the purchase. And the following string of code uncovered by Sood in the 8.1 beta suggests that Touch ID will make an appearance in the next generation of Apple's iPads:
"Pay with iPad using Touch ID. With Apple Pay, you no longer need to type card numbers and shipping information."
Does that mean the next iPads will also come with NFC so you can buy items at supported retailers? Not necessarily, according to Sood, who tweeted the following: "For the confused: Apple Pay on iPad with Touch ID is just for purchasing things through apps. Not NFC or anything like that."
Including NFC on the iPhone is the more critical element since people are more apt to carry around their smartphone than their tablet when they're shopping, eating at restaurants, or visiting other spots where they may want to pay for goods via a mobile device.
Apple Pay is scheduled to launch in October. That's also the month Apple typically unveils its new iPads. Mix those two together, and it's likely that iOS 8.1 will surface sometime in October as well.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Via Cult of Mac)