Apple Pay

Apple Pay is being picked up rather swiftly by iOS users, helping to push the wider market for contactless payments. Boosted by Apple's apparent ability to get users to update software sooner rather than later, a number of big-name retailers and financial institutions are already on board, and as a part of this ongoing process, MasterCard will be throwing in some decent perks to PGA Tour attendees processing transactions via Apple Pay.

The Apple Pay service is coming to Europe, Middle East, Africa and India according to Apple job posting. More details can be found right after the jump.

The holiday shopping season is drawing nearer and the Cupertino giant shows us just how valuable Apple Pay can be, as Eddy Cue - Apple's SVP of Internet Software and Services - shows off the service in action as he goes on a shopping spree followed by some cameras, of course.

Apple, already being a dominant force in markets like digital music, computing and mobile, has made a couple of strong statements with the recent iOS 8 update as to its future expansion plans, and along with the HealthKit infrastructure set to tap into an industry worth billions of dollars, Apple Pay has also given the world's most valuable company a shoo-in to the world of finance. As well as facilitating contactless payments in a secure fashion - something recently introduced with iOS 8.1 - Apple has been striking deals with financiers and money corps left, right and center, and in the latest, has just announced a co-branded Barclaycard Visa that'll land customers some Apple-focused rewards and benefits.

Apple is currently locked in a silent war with some retailers after the decided to not just ignore Apple's advances to bring Apple Pay to their customers but also actively made it impossible to use the service even after it was found to work in an unsupported capacity. In a world where you would expect all retailers to want to take money from potential customers, that just seems weird.

This holiday shopping season users might get to see the launch of the rumored loyalty rewards program that Apple was to launch alongside Apple Pay 2.0 in October 2015. Recent reports suggest that Apple may have pushed up the launch date, given the so far smooth roll-out of Apple Pay, and otherwise market demand.

With iOS 8.1 finally bringing Apple Pay to supported devices, both Apple and a large number of retailers are scrambling to get deals done and ensure that compliance with the secure, contactless new system is as fluid and seamless as possible. With many thousands of outlets already kitted out with NFC systems that will happily process payments via Apple Pay, there's already a solid foundation for contactless to prosper, but if you're perhaps wondering whether your credit or debit card is ready for Apple Pay, the chart below breaks everything down nice and simply.