According to surveys conducted by research companies, one of the reasons some retailers are hesitant to adopt the Apple Pay standard is because they’d rather not have to deal with buying new equipment, especially if it unclear if it will be a worthwhile investment when you consider how new such payment methods are in the US.
However things could soon change as Apple has announced a partnership with Square in which the latter company has created a mobile Apple Pay reader. What this means is that now just about any retailer will be able to accept Apple Pay, regardless of whether you’re a huge retail chain spanning across the country, or if you’re just an independent seller who has a stall at the flea market.
Through the size and ease of the Square Apple Pay reader, anyone can start accepting Apple Pay as a payment option which in turn encourages shoppers to use the feature and for more retailers to start offering it as well. Even better news is that Apple Pay is finally expanding into international markets starting with the UK next month.
This will see eight banks in the UK throw their support behind Apple Pay, along with a slew of retailers in the country who will support the system as well. The UK will also have a slight advantage in the sense that Apple Pay will also work with the London public transportation system, effectively turning Apple Pay into a public transport card as well. Unfortunately there was no mention of which other markets Apple Pay will be expanding into, but last we heard China was on Apple’s radar.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Pay, Square, Wwdc and Wwdc 2015.