Apple has developed a mobile payment system through a partnership with Visa, MasterCard and Amex, as well as working with banks and retailers such as US department store Nordstrom, according to a number of media reports.

The system, which will also include a mobile wallet, follows a report on Friday that Apple is working on a NFC-enabled version of the iPhone.

The long-mooted move by the company looks set to be unveiled at its 9 September event which will primarily see new iPhones making their debut.

The link-up with Amex, MasterCard and Visa was reported by Bloomberg, while the Nordstrom connection came from Bank Innovation.

If all the details are accurate, then Apple will have the partnerships and technology in place to enable millions of iPhone users to make payments in shops, cafes and restaurants by tapping their iPhones at the point-of-sale.

Creating such an ecosystem is enormously challenging as others have found, not least because many players – particularly retailers – are reluctant to share consumer data for commercial reasons.

And Apple is a behemoth to scare anyone with hundreds of millions of credit card details on record, thanks to iTunes and the App Store. So far those cards have been used for digital transactions, but now the industry is going to see whether Apple can pull off the same trick with physical transactions.

If Apple moves into mobile payments, then it has left observers plenty of clues about its intention.

CEO Tim Cook has previously made positive comments regarding the prospects of mobile payments. And the company has introduced the Touch ID fingerprint scanner to add an extra layer of security. Another clue was the Passbook wallet for storing tickets and loyalty cards.