Rumor: iOS 8.1 With Apple Pay Launching Oct. 20

Apple has had some bad luck with its iOS 8 updates so far, but here's hoping iOS 8.1 - rumored to be arriving on Oct. 20 - fares a bit better.

Banking blog Bank Innovation reported the rumored iOS 8.1 launch date on Wednesday, and said the update will activate Apple Pay.

Apple announced Apple Pay at its Sept. 9 iPhone event, and said at the time that it would formally arrive in October as part of an iOS update. Only the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will support Apple Pay for now, but it will work on the Apple Watch when that device launches next year.

The news comes several days after Apple launched iOS 8.1 Beta 1. Developer Hamza Sood later posted a screenshot from the beta that showed off how to enter credit or debit card info, billing and shipping addresses, and personal contact details in Apple Pay. The image also detailed Apple Pay's privacy policy, which says that information may be provided to your card issuer for use in fraud detection.

Apple Pay settings and privacy pic.twitter.com/N9m87XITNy

— Hamza Sood (@hamzasood) September 30, 2014

The iOS 8.1 beta also appears to support Touch ID on the iPad, though as Hamza explained, "Apple Pay on iPad with Touch ID is just for purchasing things through apps. Not NFC or anything like that."

Apple Pay's launch partners include McDonald's, Whole Foods, Panera, Disney theme parks, and more. Web-based services like Groupon, Uber, and MLB at Bat will also be integrated. Plus, users can swipe their phone at any of the 220,000 merchants that already accept contactless payments.

Apple teamed up with American Express, Visa, and MasterCard, as well as the six largest banks, for its Pay service. Global Payments, one of the largest worldwide providers of payment solutions, this week agreed to fully support Apple Pay.

For the security conscious, Cupertino promised all payment information will be encrypted. And, instead of storing your credit card number, Apple creates a device-only account number each time you pay. In the event that your phone is stolen, use Find My iPhone to suspend all payments.

Not everyone is a believer in Apple tactics, though. PayPal, which just announced its separation from parent company eBay, recently slammed Cupertino's new payment system, suggesting that Apple Pay is only as safe as selfies in iCloud.

Apple did not respond to PCMag's request for comment.

For more, see Why You Should Ditch Your Wallet for Apple Pay.