Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Spar, Boots and Pret a Manger are among the high street retailers that will introduce Apple Pay next month.
The long-awaited contactless payment system for iPhones, which was first introduced in the United States a year ago, will be available at 250,000 UK locations.
More than 620 M&S stores including railway and airport franchise will offer the service, which lets users pay for purchases using iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch devices.
According to the retailer, the payment system incorporates an extra security measure, which means that the numbers of credit or debit cards added to Apple Pay are not stored on the device or Apple servers.
Instead, the payee receives a one-use unique device account number, which is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element of their device, which allows them to debit the payment.
“M&S already has one of the biggest contactless payment estates in the UK and our integration of Apple Pay means we are well set up to cater for customers’ evolving shopping habits,” Laura Wade-Gery, executive director multi-channel said.
“We’ve already seen our customers embrace the benefits of contactless technology and mobile payment – and developments like Apple watch are set to be an exciting part of the future retail landscape, creating even quicker, easier and more convenient ways to shop.”
According to sandwich chain Pret a Manger, almost half of its card payments are made via contactless methods.
“At Pret, we aim to complete most till transactions in under a minute,” CEO Clive Schlee said. “Contactless payment has been very popular with our customers and we’re delighted to be able to make shopping at Pret even more convenient for many with the introduction of Apple Pay next month.”
Debbie Robinson, Spar UK MD described Apple Pay as ‘perfect for high value purchases at our forecourt garages and larger convenience stores’.
Dave Hobday, UK MD of Worldpay added the move heralded the ‘future of retail’. “Retailers who fail to adopt this new technology will quickly lose out to their savvier rivals,” he warned.
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