Beyond the sleek and thinner iPads and the stunningly big-screen iMacs which the company launched on October 16, Apple still has another ace up its sleeve with the Apple Pay.

Apple Pay will be officially released by the American tech giant on Monday, October 20, 2014 and it is strongly hyped as an app that would turn an iPhone into a wallet, reports abcNews.

A demonstration of the Apple Pay was also among the highlights of the company's event on October 16 at its Cupertino, California headquarters.

How Does it Work?

On Apple's website, Apple Pay is referred to as "A wallet, without the wallet."

"Apple Pay will change how you pay with breakthrough contactless payment technology and unique security features built right into the devices you have with you every day," explains the tech giant.

With Apple Pay, paying in stores or within apps has become easier. Apple mobile device users will have to do away with the time of pulling out their wallets or searching for the right card to use.

"With the use of an iPhone, an Apple Watch, or an iPad, payments happen with a single touch in a simple, secure and private way, notes Apple.

"The Apple Pay platform offers many features, including one-touch checkout and purchase information privacy, describes Business 2 Community.

The payment system serves as a mobile payment option in merchant stores and as a checkout option for online shops, notes B2C.

Institutional Partners

The Wall Street Journal also reports that the moment Apple announced its new mobile payment system in September, hundreds of financial institutions wanted to support it.

The institutions were apparently looking to keep their respective customers in their fold. They reportedly believe that it is likely that some clients might transfer to other banks if their current debit and credit cards cannot be used with Apple's latest mobile devices, the WSJ report notes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed on October 16, during his demonstration of the Apple Pay, that deals have been made with hundreds of banks when the system was announced last month.

He added that additional merchants plan to subscribe to the Apple Pay before the end of the year.

Apart from forging partnerships with the country's largest banks, Apple was also able to hook up with the major credit card networks including Visa, Inc.; Mastercard, Inc., and American Express Co., cites The Wall Street Journal.

The financial institutions will pay a per-transaction fee to Apple to be included on the Apple Pay. The amount of the fee has not been specified just yet but bank officials say that they hope the cost will be offset by the number of transactions in the system, a source told WSJ.

Business 2 Community writes that Apple is venturing into a crowded field of mobile payment system that includes NFC payments from the likes of Google and Venmo.

However, B2C opines that if the tech giant can maintain the same brand loyalty from its current customers for its hardware and software products, Apple Pay could be a hit that the company has been priming it to be.

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