LONDON: Apple Inc. is making the U.K. the first market outside the U.S. for its digital-wallet system as the company fights for a place in the electronic-payments industry.
The Apple Pay service will be available at 250,000 retail locations in Britain starting Tuesday, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The setup lets consumers use devices such as the iPhone 6, iPads and Apple Watches to make payments similar to transactions with contactless debit and credit cards.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is relying on new services to expand Apple’s digital footprint and encourage people to stay with its products. The Cupertino, California-based manufacturer is facing competitors such as Google Inc. and EBay Inc.’s PayPal in a U.S. market that Forrester Research estimates is likely to process $67 billion worth of sales this year and as much as $142 billion by 2019.
U.K. Apple users can now buy everything from coffee to diesel with their devices at companies including oil producer BP Plc, restaurant operator McDonald’s Corp. and department-store chain Marks & Spencer Group Plc, as well as the Transport for London railway and bus network.
