When Apple unveiled its new Apple Pay payment service during its iPhone event last month, it said the new feature would arrive for users in the US sometime in October. While there hasn’t been a firm date announced for the launch, at least one of Apple’s early bank partners has apparently confirmed a release date. DailyDot reports that USAA said Apple Pay would become available for its Visa and MasterCard customers on November 7:
Parekh says USAA will offer Apple Pay beginning on “Nov. 7 for USAA MasterCard and USAA Visa cards,” which is the first official date for an Apple Pay release thus far.
During its event Apple said it would initially support cards from American Express, MasterCard, and Visa through a number of issuing banks in the US including Citi, Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo, Chase, American Express PNC, Navy Federal Credit Union, Barclays, USBank, and USAA. On its website, however, PNC, Navy Federal Credit Union, Barclays, USBank, and USAA are listed separately as “coming soon”. Apple also announced a number of app and retail partners supporting Apple Pay at launch:
It’s unclear if the November 7 date might be a launch date for Apple Pay and the rest of the issuing bank partners, which would mean a week delay for Apple’s previously planned October launch, or if certain banks will roll out support at different times. PNC and Navy Federal told DailyDot the service would arrive “later this fall”. It’s likely those listed in the “coming soon” category on Apple’s website– PNC, Navy Federal Credit Union, Barclays, USBank, and USAA– will launch later than the other banks including Citi, Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo, Chase, and American Express.
With Apple’s previous announcement that Apple Pay would launch this month, there’s a good chance we’ll here more about an official launch date at its press event scheduled for October 16.