Apple Pay to Hit Starbucks Stores This Year

By Douglas MacMillan 

Apple Inc.'s fledgling mobile-payment service is getting a boost from Starbucks Corp.

The coffee retailer will begin accepting Apple Pay in some U.S. stores this year, Jennifer Bailey, Apple's head of payments, said Thursday at a tech conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif. All 7,500 U.S. coffee stores owned by Starbucks will accept Apple Pay by the end of 2016, Ms. Bailey said.

The rollout could help Apple broaden consumer appeal for its mobile payments, a technology that has failed to gain wide adoption despite many high-profile efforts by numerous tech giants. Apple's service, launched a year ago at about 220,000 U.S. locations including McDonald's and Macy's, prompts shoppers to ditch their wallet and make purchases with an iPhone.

Instead of swiping a card and signing a receipt, shoppers using Apple Pay wave an iPhone--or, soon, an Apple Watch--in front of a wireless reader and complete the transaction with a fingerprint.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 08, 2015 18:57 ET (22:57 GMT)

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