Ready to start using it yourself Read on to learn more about how Apple Pay works, how to get your iPhone ready for it, and most importantly, where you can go test it out. We'll keep this page up-to-date as more banks, stores, and apps gain Apple Pay support, too.
What's the latest
Best Buy now supports Apple Pay for in-app purchases and this fall will begin accepting Apple Pay in its stores nationwide. Apple announced Best Buy's support during its second-quarter earnings call.
The move is particularly notable because Best Buy is apart of the consortium of major retailers developing an Apple Pay competitor called CurrentC. CurrentC members like Rite Aid and CVS have prevented customers from using Apple Pay at their NFC terminals, but it looks like Best Buy is taking a friendlier approach to Apple--or perhaps the writing's on the wall for CurrentC.
Discover also announced support for Apple Pay is coming this fall. Now that Apple has all of the major U.S. credit card issuers on board, it can ramp up international expansion efforts.
Want to use Apple Pay Get your iPhone ready
In order to use Apple Pay, you need to have a compatible device and the right version of iOS. For in-store purchases, Apple Pay is compatible with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which are the only iPhones equipped with the requisite NFC radio antennae. Besides NFC compatibility, the other piece of the hardware puzzle is a Touch ID sensor, but iPhone 5S owners are out of luck. For in-app purchases, Apple Pay works with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3--again, thanks to the Touch ID sensor.
You'll also need to update your iPhone to iOS 8.1 or newer, which will turn on your phone's Apple Pay feature.
Once your iPhone is in order, you'll need to link up a credit or debit card to use for payments. As of April 27, Apple's confirmed credit, debit, bank, and credit union partners are:
If you already have one of these partner cards linked to your Apple ID for making iTunes and App Store purchases, you can opt to keep using that card with Apple Pay.
You can also add different cards--just launch Passbook and tap the plus-sign in the top-right corner. You'll then be prompted to add either a credit or debit card to use with Apple Pay, or another pass to store in Passbook. Tap "Add Another Card," then follow the entry fields on the next screen. You can speed this up by taking a picture of your card with your iPhone.
Whether you're using the card already linked to your Apple ID or adding a new one, your iPhone will guide you through the setup process, which includes verifying your card, granting Apple Pay access, and then storing it in Passbook. Be sure to have your card handy so you can verify the card with its security code.
The card linked to your Apple ID will be listed as your default Apple Pay card, but you can always change that by going to Settings > Passbook & Apple Pay and updating your transaction default information.
How it works
When buying something at a brick-and-mortar store, you'll hold your iPhone up to a wireless payment terminal near the cash register, and then use Touch ID to complete your purchase. These sensors are the same ones you've already seen in stores, often equipped with both card swipers and a tap-to-pay contactless terminal. The beauty of Apple Pay is that you don't even need to wake up your iPhone or launch Passbook--your phone wakes up automatically when it gets in range of the terminal and initiates the payment process.
If you're buying something through a partnered online store on your iPhone, iPad Air 2, or iPad mini 3, you'll just use Touch ID to complete the purchase. Depending on the app, you may have to toggle on a setting to allow the app to access Apple Pay, or to set Apple Pay as your default method of payment.
Get shopping
What makes Apple Pay such a game-changer is how many retail partners the platform has, with new stores being added constantly. Besides the Apple Store, you can use Apple Pay at these brick-and-mortar locations:
A few more stores will rollout Apple Pay compatibility sometime in 2015:
For in-app checkouts, Apple Pay works with an overflowing handful of apps:
Also, JetBlue accepts Apple Pay payments on select flights between New York's John F. Kennedy airport and the airports in San Francisco and Los Angeles, with a fleet-wide Apple Pay rollout expected for later in 2015. Passengers can use Apple Pay to purchase in-air snacks, drinks, entertainment, and seat upgrades. Flight attendants will use iPad minis equipped with NFC-enabled cases to complete transactions, and the system will accept traditional credit and debit card transactions as well. By June, 3500 JetBlue flight attendants will have the Apple Pay-ready iPad minis.
While JetBlue is paving the way, we wouldn't be surprised to see Apple Pay accepted by other airlines as well. The next likely candidate is United Airlines, which already has released plans to equip 23,000 flight attendants with an iPhone 6 Plus for on board use later this year. However, they haven't announced any plans for Apple Pay integration yet.