Earlier this week Apple stated that Apple Pay is off to a “great start” following its launch nearly a year ago, seeing double-digit growth in transactions every month. Now, it looks as if Apple has inked a deal that will greatly expand the presence of its mobile payments solution. Speaking at Re/code’s Code/Mobile conference today, Apple Pay head Jennifer Bailey announced that Starbucks will soon begin accepting the payment method in its 7,500 locations.
Bailey stated that Starbucks will begin testing Apple Pay in select stores this year via a pilot program before expanding it to all stores sometime in 2016. Starbucks has long supported Apple Pay in its iOS app, allowing users to choose it as a payment method when paying via the app or reloading cards, but never to pay at the register in a store. The Starbucks app accounts for 20 percent of all in-store transactions for the company.
Bailey also announced that Apple Pay will soon be supported at the fast food chain KFC and in the sit-down chain Chili’s. Apple’s Bailey noted that the KFC expansion has a special place in her heart because it was her first job.
Regarding the possibility of expanding Apple Pay to additional countries, Bailey said that Apple is working to bring the service to as many countries as possible. “We want to bring Apple Pay to as many countries as possible,” the exec stated.
Apple Pay has been expanding at a brisk pace recently. The service launched in the U.K. a few months ago, while CEO Tim Cook proclaimed that 2015 would be the “year of Apple Pay.” Some retailers, however, have questioned the uptake of the platform. For instance, Panera Bread and Firehouse both claim that Apple Pay transactions make up a low single-digit percentage of all transactions.
