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American Express prepares customers for Apple Pay launch, details setup procedure

In an email sent out to credit card holders on Friday, American Express announced integration with Apple Pay and outlined steps users need to take in order to get the payment system up and running on their mobile device.

As seen in the screenshot above, American Express is prepping for its upcoming integration with Apple's Apple Pay mobile and Internet payments solution. At its iPad event on Thursday, Apple said Apple Pay services are scheduled to launch next Monday when the company releases iOS 8.1.

While the basic procedure for entering in credit card credentials has been revealed in previous reports, American Express offers a few interesting tidbits of information regarding account linking and monitoring.

Of note, the company says American Express users who already have cards on file with iTunes need only to confirm ownership by entering the card's security code into Passbook. This suggests Apple will pre-populate Passbook with credit cards linked to iTunes or Apple ID accounts.

The American Express note also confirmed that users will have real-time access to account details through Apple Pay, even for purchases made with plastic cards. In addition, the company is building extensibility features into its Amex Mobile iOS app, allowing customers to monitor account activity, access rewards and offers and request service.

Apple Pay is slated to roll out on Oct. 20 with full support for touchless NFC payments using the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at supported point-of-sale terminals. At launch, Apple Pay will be accepted at more than 220,000 locations in the U.S. and supports all three major credit card networks. AppleInsider has curated a rolling list of retail outlets that will offer support at launch or plan to do so in the coming weeks.