Apple has teamed up with coffee chain Starbucks to roll out its mobile payment solution Apple Pay, under a new pilot programme.
Apple is also teaming up with food chains including KFC and Chili’s in the US to roll out the service in 2016.
At the Code/Mobile conference Apple Pay head Jennifer Bailey said: "[KFC] has a special place in my heart — it was my first job ever.
"We’re seeing a lot of support for quick-service restaurants with a need for fast payment."
The NFC based payment service was launched last year and it allows users to pay through their iPhones and Apple Watch using their own credit and debit cards.
Apple Pay is presently accepted by Bloomingdale’s, Disney Store, Walt Disney World Resort, Duane Reade, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Sephora, Staples, Subway, Walgreens and Whole Foods Market in the US, and users can also make in app purchases using the system.
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The service is reportedly designed to tie customers more tightly to its phones in order to take a small share of every retail transaction.
Starbucks has a mobile payments service built into its own app, which accounts for 20% of all Starbucks in-store transactions and is connected to Starbucks’ loyalty programme.
In May this year, hackers got into Starbucks’ individual customer rewards accounts and stole hundreds of dollars by manipulating a vulnerability found in the Starbucks app which was linked to customer’s bank account, credit card or PayPal.
Apple Pay on the other hand does not track users’ purchase history.
The system is designed in a way that even merchant and cashiers cannot see the name, credit card number or security code of the system.
