Companies are tripping over each other to adopt Apple Pay

In the hype-fueled technology industry, “revolutionary” is a word in danger of losing its meaning. But Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) new mobile payments system – unveiled just ten days ago – is already winning over the heavyweights of the financial industry and signaling the likely demise of lesser payment alternatives. Its secret? Apple Pay preserves many existing relationships while inserting a new dominant player – itself – as kingmaker. Its potential audience? The 800 million Apple users who have already connected credit and debit cards to iTunes accounts. “Apple’s approach appears to be collaborative with traditional payment networks, instead of competitive, and it’s much less disruptive,” says Nathalie Reinelt, a payments expert with banking consultancy Aite Group. Apple Pay allows consumers using new Apple phones or soon-to-be-released tablets and smartwatches to buy things by simply holding the device up to readers installed by store merchants. Launched on Friday in the new iPhone 6s, it was first unveiled on Sept 9, when the giants of the credit card industry – Visa (V.N), MasterCard (MA.N) and American Express (AXP.N) – declared their commitment to making the Apple service work.