Apple announced Apple Pay, its much-rumored mobile payments system at the iPhone 6 event last month. The payment service uses a combination of NFC, Touch ID and credit cards to give users a quick, but secure way of paying at physical stores as well as online.

While Apple Pay hasn’t launched yet, the service has found an appreciator in Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft. In an interview given to Bloomberg about digital payments and banking, Gates said that Apple Pay is a fantastic idea:

Apple Pay’s a great example of how a cell phone that identifies its user in a pretty strong way lets you make a transaction that should be very, very inexpensive. So the fact that in any application I can buy something, that’s fantastic. The fact I don’t need a physical card anymore, I just do that transaction and you’re going to be quite sure about who it is on the other end, that is a real contribution.

On further being asked why Microsoft hasn’t launched a similar offering, Gates said:

And all the platforms, whether it’s Apple’s or Google’s or Microsoft, you’ll see this payment capability get built in. That’s built on industry standard protocols, NFC. And these companies have all participated in getting those going. Apple will help make sure it gets to critical mass for all the devices.

Apple Pay will likely launch with iOS 8.1, which is rumored to launch on October 20. Apple reportedly also has a media event lined up for October 16th, where the company will introduce new iPads with Touch ID and Apple Pay.