An online training course for employees has been published that includes instructions for the VeriFone readers, including the Apple Pay functions. Stores that don’t have the appropriate hardware to support the technology will receive further information on the 20th about how the company plans to handle payments those locations.

The memo also notes that the NFC terminals will support not just Apple Pay, but several other tap-to-pay systems like Google Wallet and SoftCard as well.

Recently it was revealed that USAA would begin supporting Apple Pay on November 7th, making it the first bank with a hard release date, and McDonald’s training documents recently revealed how the fast food chain will handle drive-thru Apple Pay transactions. It seems likely that Apple’s first-tier launch banks and other retailers will support the feature on the 20th to ensure that customers can use it on day one.

Apple Pay is expected to launch in iOS 8.1 next Monday, and several references including the setup screens and Siri support have been discovered in current beta version.

The relevant portion of the Panera Bread memo is below:

This message is intended for bakery-cafes that have installed Verifone systems. As you are aware, Panera is a featured partner with Apple in their announcement of the iPhone 6 and the new Apple Pay platform. Now, we are excited to share that Apple is very close to releasing Apple Pay and actually planning to launch on October 20th. In additional to Apple’s own announcement, which is always big news, Panera is planning the following activities to drive customer awareness:

  • 􏰀Televised Panera executive interview (I wonder who it will be?)
  • Door clings to be shipped to all bakery-cafes (More to follow for operators in Monday’s eNews)
  • MyPanera e-mail to all members (And we are talking millllionsss here)

With the release of Apple Pay, we expect customers coming in to use Apple Pay, as well as an increase in other customers coming in to use other types of Tap & Pay like Google Wallet or SoftCard. But not to worry, a training plan will be in your next eNews on Monday complete with links to: