Launched on October 20, 2014, Apple Pay is a digital wallet and mobile payment service developed by Apple Inc. Its mission is to replace the physical wallet by allowing users to add credit, debit, and prepaid cards to their Apple devices, including the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. The service utilizes NFC (Near Field Communication) for contactless payments at retail locations and leverages the Secure Element and biometric authentication (Face ID or Touch ID) to ensure transaction security. Apple Pay aims to provide a more secure, private, and effortless way to pay, as actual card numbers are not stored on the device or on Apple servers and are not shared with merchants.