Apple Pay to go live by October 18th

An internal memo to Walgreen employees designed to prepare them for the influx of mobile payments following the launch of Apple Pay suggests that the service will go live in just five days or less.

The memo, published on macrumors, suggests that iPhone 6 buyers will be able to pay by tapping their phone on an NFC enabled terminal from Saturday. While a Saturday launch is unusual, macrumors notes, it could make sense as Apple Pay is designed for in-store shopping and a weekend debut would give customers time to try the service.

It may be that Apple Pay will go live shortly before the October 18 date, following the company’s Thursday, October 16 iPad event, with support coming to Walgreens a few days later.

Walgreens is one of Apple’s major launch partners, along with other companies like McDonalds, Macy’s, Staples, and more. According to the Walgreens memo, customers who have an iPhone 6 will be able to use Apple Pay in Walgreens stores by tapping their devices “to the upper portion of the pinpad to pay for their purchase.”

This week’s October 16th Apple event may be the perfect time for the tech giant to divulge more information about its payment service, as it gathers people for the expected release of a new iPad Air, Retina iMacs, and possibly a new Retina iPad mini.

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