Apple Pay will be rolled out in UK next month, as company combats rivals

Apple Pay will be linked to loyalty cards and will be introduced in the United Kingdom in July, as the company seeks to overcome hiccups with its electronic payment system, combating rivals such as Google Inc., EBay Inc.’s PayPal, etc.

At 9 a.m. in Frankfurt, Apple traded at the equivalent of $128. The stock closed at $127.80 in U.S. trading Monday.

Apple will launch the system at 250,000 locations in the UK, including public transport; Pinterest and the Discover card also will work with Apple Pay, Jennifer Bailey, the head of the system, said Monday at Apple Inc.’s annual software developer conference in San Francisco.

Apple is fighting against Google Inc., EBay Inc.’s PayPal and others in a market that is likely to process $67 billion worth of sales this year and may increase to $142 billion by 2019, says Bloomberg. However, a feature that has been missing from the service is support for merchants’ customer-loyalty programs.

Analyst at Forrester Research says that “Apple Pay is still optional and not yet essential for merchants."

“Adding loyalty rewards is a first step in building a more integrated mobile wallet.”

Store debit cards will be added to the system, which will be available in more than 1 million locations starting next month.

Apple's Passbook app - renamed Wallet - will accept loyalty cards from merchants including Dunkin’ Donuts, Walgreens and Panera Bread, accruing rewards that can be redeemed through Apple Pay.

Last month, Google unveiled Android Pay at its developer conference to challenge Apple’s service. Android Pay will be available later in 2015 and will be linked with loyalty programs.

Samsung Electronics Co. has previewed its Samsung Pay mobile-transaction system, which will be available in the third quarter in the U.S. and South Korea.

Apple Pay, which transforms an iPhone 6 and 6 Plus into a digital wallet, was positioned as an easy way for consumers and retailers to enter a new world of consumption. Apple Pay is being used by the biggest U.S. banks and credit-card networks, as they help accelerate adoption of mobile payments while maintaining control of their transactions.