Are bigger screens all there are? On September 9, Apple has unveiled two systems to go along with their larger iPhones and Apple Watch—a health and fitness suite "Health" and a mobile payments system "Apple Pay". While the fitness suite is expected to be useful, the mobile payments system has been in the crosshairs of a number of different providers such as Google.

So far, wireless payment systems have been a dud. While e-commerce has exploded, the use of an electronic wallet to pay for items in a brick-and-mortar store have been disappointing at best. Fragmentation among various vendors, payment systems, and hardware partners has left one of the key promises of mobile wallet systems empty.

For example, each retailer in a shopping center may offer a mobile payment app using NFC or other protocols to allow buyers to use their phones for payment, but these apps cannot be used at any other store. Why should buyers open their phones and select a different app to pay – especially when these are likely to be apps that “load” money onto them, similar to gift cards? Why would consumers do this when they have the option to simply use their trusty and always-connected credit card, especially when credit cards offer similar rewards to what retail apps offer?

Apple aims to boost adoption of its new smartphone and wearable through negotiating with a number of payment processors—American Express, Visa, and MasterCard are on board along with the largest US banks--and likely with hardware manufacturers who make point-of-sale equipment. It has also negotiated with several major US retailers--McDonald’s, Walgreens, Staples, Disney, Nike, and others—and is expected to use its own Passbook app rather than a store-specific app. In doing so, Apple hopes to spare smartphone owners of the need to keep a large number of different apps altogether, bringing all payments under one roof.

However, at launch it does not appear as though Apple Pay will use Passbook for all transactions. Notably, major US retailers Starbucks and Target will still require the use of their own app. So while there has been some unification of the various payment options, Apple still clearly has a long way to go.

It remains to be seen whether this will be successful, and the devil is in the details—will retailers have the right equipment to accept payment? Will retailers who have not yet jumped on board join? Finally, all of the major retailers and banks signed on are primarily located in the US and Canada; what about China, the EU, and other nations?

While much remains unknown, Apple Pay will almost certainly give a significant boost to the sales of the iPhone 6, Apple Watch and iAccessory manufacturers if Apple is able to provide a unified, simple payment experience.