Starbucks, KFC on Apple Pay

Starbucks's own mobile-payment application has been a success, accounting for 20% of transactions at the coffee chain's US. stores

Apple Inc. is rolling out its mobile-payments service for select Starbucks Corp. stores by the end of the year, and will reach 7,500 company-owned stores in 2016, the coffee chain said in a statement. KFC stores and Chili's Grill & Bar will make Apple Pay available in 2016 as well, Jennifer Bailey, the Apple vice president in charge of the service, said at the Code/Mobile conference Thursday.Wider acceptance should give Apple Pay a much-needed boost.

Lack of acceptance at various retail stores has been partly to blame for the slow roll-out. A year since its debut, the payment service only accounts for 1 percent of all retail transactions in the U.S., according to researcher Aite Group. Starbucks's own mobile-payment application has been a success, accounting for 20 per cent of transactions at the coffee chain's US. stores.

Starbucks has said it intends to make all popular payment methods available to customers. Haley Drage, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based company, said its U.K. stores have been accepting Apple Pay for several months. "It was received well by consumers," she said.