A leaked memo from US retailer Walgreens to its employees refers to the launch of Apple Pay on 18 October, according to MacRumors.

“In preparation for the launch of Apple Pay on October 18, we would like you to cover the following material included in the tasks before activation”, reads the internal memo.

The drug store was one of a number of leading US retailers that Apple announced as supporting its NFC-based mobile payment service.

Customers wielding the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus will be able to make payments by tapping against the upper portion of the pinpad at the point of sale, explains the memo.

The launch date mentioned by Walgreens is of course a Saturday but given this is a retail service perhaps a weekend debut is not so surprising. Apple might be hoping for a high take-up on a busy shopping day as an introduction to retailers and consumers.

Meanwhile, 9to5mac has been on the case too with a leak of its own, which shows how iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users can add up to eight different credit and debit cards to their Passbook wallets.