The Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is coming soon, and that means early adopters will get to pay for things out in the real world just by tapping their wrist against a payment terminal. That’s all thanks to the Watch’s integration with Apple Pay, the company’s mobile payment system. Ahead of the company’s event today, an Apple executive offered a sneak peek of how paying with the Watch works.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, told CNet that the Watch’s Apple Pay system will require a user to authenticate their wearable with their phone every time they put it on if they want to use the payment service. iPhone 5, 5S and 5C users will enter a pin displayed on the watch, while iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users can put their finger on the phone’s Touch ID sensor.

The Apple Watch can tell whether a device is on a user’s wrist or not thanks to its built-in heart rate sensor. If the user’s heartbeat goes away, it knows to lock up so that a thief can’t purloin someone’s Watch and run away with a means of using their credit cards.

The pulse sensor will also reportedly be used to control when notifications show up on the Watch. According to TechCrunch, the Watch won’t get notifications unless it’s strapped to a user’s wrist. That’s good news both from a privacy and battery life standpoint, since it will keep people from snooping on notifications if someone takes off their Apple Watch. It’ll also reduce the power draw on the phone and Watch, since neither will have to drive notifications if the Watch isn’t being worn.

Related: The Apple Watch is coming: Here’s what to expect from Apple’s ‘Spring Forward’ event on Monday

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