Apple Pay: Mobile Payments' Long-Awaited Star?Apple Pay: Mobile Payments' Long-Awaited Star?

Apple wants to replace the old leather wallet with its digital version. But whether the trendsetting company can kickstart the mobile payments landscape to the next level remains to be seen.

The company revealed its NFC-based Apple Pay network during a much-hyped event Tuesday, which also included reveals of the new iPhone and the much-anticipated Watch wearable device.

Apple Pay is built into the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and will be available in the US in October. Users can add a credit card from their iTunes account or add a new card by snapping a picture of it with their phone's camera. Once the card information is uploaded to Apple Pay, consumers simply place a finger on their iPhone's Touch ID fingerprint scanner while holding the phone in front of a contactless reader that Apple says will be in more than 200,000 retail locations, including Whole Foods, Subway, McDonald's, and Macy's. A vibration and beep will signal the completed transaction.

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