The New York Times, in an article about the upcoming battle between Apple Pay and Android Pay:

Awareness of mobile payments has been stoked by Apple Pay, which Apple introduced last October. Apple has partnerships with dozens of American banks, allowing Apple Pay to work with most major credit cards. Some retailers, like Walgreens and Whole Foods, have said mobile wallet payments in their stores have grown significantly since the debut of Apple Pay.

But analysts have noted that a missing piece from Apple Pay was a rewards program to keep users returning to participating merchants. People familiar with Apple Pay said that next month, Apple will announce such a program offering perks to consumers who make purchases with the service, though they declined to reveal details.

Picking this apart, there is a difference between a program that rewards frequent use of Apple Pay and the ability of Apple Pay to keep track of and enable all of a user’s various rewards programs as they pay with Apple Pay.

In other words, if i am a member of the Taco Hut frequent buyers program, if I pay with Apple Pay, will I get credit towards my free taco? Or, if I pay for my goods at Staples, will my Staples rewards number make its way into the transaction if I pay with Apple Pay?

If Apple rewards me for frequently using Apple Pay, that’s great, but it does not fill in the “missing piece”. Here’s hoping Apple has found a way to solve the real rewards program problem.