STARBUCKS Corp coffee shops will begin accepting Apple Inc’s mobile payment system in a pilot program starting this year, Apple Vice President Jennifer Bailey said on Thursday.
KFC and Chili’s restaurants will begin accepting Apple Pay in 2016, she said at the Re/code technology conference in Half Moon Bay, California. The service gives Apple a chance to tie customers more tightly to its phones and its smart watch, as well as to take a tiny bite from every retail transaction.
Apple launched the service a year ago and claimed 2015 would be the “year of Apple Pay” as it aggressively courts retailers.
But interviews by Reuters with analysts, merchants and others have suggested that Apple’s forecast may have been too optimistic and that many retailers remain sceptical about the payment system.
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