Apple Pay is scheduled to launch sometime in October, and today’s iOS 8.1 developer beta includes the feature’s settings, privacy statement, and a reference to Touch ID on the iPad.
Developer Hamza Sood, who has previously uncovered hidden references in iOS betas, tweeted his findings tonight.
A code string in iOS 8.1 says the following:
Pay with iPad using Touch ID. With Apple Pay, you no longer need to type card numbers and shipping information.
Touch ID has been rumored for the next-gen iPad, but this is the closest to a confirmation we’ve seen yet.
While NFC will be used in the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and eventually Apple Watch to process Apple Pay transactions in the real world, there’s also a software element to the service. For instance, Apple demoed the Target app using Apple Pay to handle transactions with Touch ID in its iOS app. Other apps like Uber also plan to integrate the payments system.
Since Touch ID is the security linchpin of Apple Pay, it makes sense for the iPad to get the fingerprint sensor for processing transactions in iOS.
For the confused: Apple Pay on iPad with Touch ID is just for purchasing things through apps. Not NFC or anything like that
— Hamza Sood (@hamzasood) September 30, 2014
Apple has made it very clear that Apple Pay will not be used to track users’ purchases, as Apple gets none of that data. The service’s privacy statement, however, does mention that, “the location of your iOS Device at the time you use your iOS Device to make purchases in stores may be sent anonymously to Apple and will be used to help Apple Pay improve the accuracy of business names in the Passbook card transaction history and may be retained in the aggregate to improve other Apple products and services.”