Morning Money Memo:

Starting today, Apple Pay will enable millions of consumers to use their smartphones instead of credit cards to pay for stuff. Apple Pay will work at some retailers only with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and hundreds of banks are working with Apple. More than 220,000 stores will accept the new payment system. But Walmart and most major retailers have yet to sign on. Apple Pay says the system is more secure than paying with credit and debit cards and it's more convenient than having to pull a plastic card out of your wallet. "Apple Pay is the technology industry's most ambitious effort to position smartphones as a safer and easier alternative to cash, checks and plastic credit cards," says The Wall Street Journal.

A new business survey finds hiring is healthy but pay raises, not so much. The quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economics finds that only 24 percent of companies increased wages and salaries in the July-September quarter. That's down from 43% in the April-June quarter and the first drop after three straight increases. Many economists say that flat living standards for much of the middle class hold back growth. Yet firms still added jobs at a healthy pace, which usually pushes wages higher as employers compete for workers. The figures suggest that the number of people out of work remains high enough that companies aren't under any pressure to raise pay.

Stock futures are up today after a surge in Japan overnight - the Nikkei index rose more than 3 percent. Asian markets have been down recently with concerns about slowing growth in China. The sharp drop last week in oil prices is relieving pressure on some Asian economies that rely on imported fuel by making it easier to withdraw budget draining subsidies.

Boy toys helped Hasbro boost profits. The large toymaker announced an increase of 43 percent for 3rd quarter earnings compared with last year. The company's boys division includes Marvel toys, Nerf and Transformers. Last week rival toy firm Mattel announced a sharp drop in profits, partially because of declining sales of Barbie Dolls.

IBM shares dropped nearly 8 percent this morning in pre-market trading because of a disappointing earnings report. IBM also said it is paying $1.5 billion to Globalfoundries as it sheds its costly chip division. IBM will make payments to the chipmaker over three years, but it's taking a $4.7 billion charge in the third quarter. Globalfoundries will get IBM's global commercial semiconductor technology business, including intellectual property and technologies related to IBM Microelectronics.

Richard Davies Business Correspondent ABC News Radio abcnews.com Twitter: daviesnow