On September 9, Apple is hosting its annual iPhone event. The expectation is that the consumer electronics giant will unveil the latest version of the popular smartphone — the iPhone 6. While that bit of information appears to be all-but-confirmed, it's the latest rumor attached to the news that has people really excited. According to several sources, Apple is expected to finally release a mobile payments system with its new phone.

Bloomberg has added weight to these claims by reporting that Visa, MasterCard and American Express have all inked partnerships with Apple. The nature of these agreements is still unknown, but it's likely all questions will be answered on September 9 when CEO Tim Cook and the rest of the Apple executive team take the stage to showcase what many believe will be the biggest iPhone advancement in company history.

Although most of the information is pure speculation at this point, that hasn't stopped industry analysts from projecting what this potential announcement could mean for the payments industry. An article in Quartz suggests the reason mobile payments are not yet a mainstream smartphone feature is due to the complicated relationship between carriers, merchants and issuers. If Apple obtains partnerships with the top card issuers, that could go a long way towards streamlining and simplifying this process.

This is in addition to Apple's pre-established mantra of putting the user first. Apple has earned its reputation as a trend-setter because it simplifies seemingly complicated technological processes. If the media's speculation that Apple will indeed simplify payments as well comes true, it could spark a change in the mobile payments industry. Regardless, merchants must be aware of any news regarding mobile commerce and ensure they have the payment technology necessary to process these transactions.