Apple to partner with American Express, Visa, and Mastercard for mobile payments

Apple’s special media event is just a few days away and all eyes will be on company CEO Tim Cook to see if he can deliver on the innovation front after three years at the helm. What’s more, with Apple executive Eddy Cue claiming that Apple’s 2014 product pipeline is the best he’s seen in 25 years with the company, the expectations for something truly great will be exceedingly high.

In addition to two new iPhone models and a rumored iWatch, reports are coming in that Apple next Tuesday will also roll out a mobile payment platform that will enable iPhone users to quite easily make payments by swiping their device over a payment pad. Indeed, these reports are further bolstered by leaked photos of iPhone 6 logic boards which show the presence of an NFC chip.

Now comes word via Re/Code that Apple is partnering with American Express to help roll out its mobile payments platform.

Apple has reached an agreement with American Express to work together on its new iPhone payments system, according to sources familiar with the talks. American Express is one of several partners Apple will need to sign up before it can launch its new payments plan, which sources say it plans to announce at its September 9 product event.

Shortly following that came a report from Bloomberg relaying that Apple has since signed similar agreements with both Visa and MasterCard.

Apple Inc. plans to turn its next iPhone into a mobile wallet through a partnership with major payment networks, banks and retailers, according a person familiar with the situation.

The agreement includes Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co. and will be unveiled on Sept. 9 along with the next iPhone, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

While digital wallet type features from the likes of Google and other companies have been around for a while, they’ve yet to really catch on. Apple’s implementation — likely to include Touch ID for security — likely stands the best chance to really make mobile payments a mainstream reality.