​Apple announced during their developer conference in June that over 250,000 UK merchants would be on board with Apple Pay and today Apple Pay is officially being launched. Many major brands — including Boots, BP, Marks and Spencer and most big banks have signed up to support Apple Pay.

It is the first time the "tap-and-pay" system — which allows users to pay for goods and services by touching their smartphones on contactless payment points — will be available outside the US.

Mike Cowen, head of emerging payments products UK and Ireland at MasterCard, which provides the payment systems that operate between Apple, retailers and banks, described Apple Pay as a game changer.

The Financial Times further noted that "The mobile payment service will be available in the UK on Apple's most recent handsets — the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Payments can also be made with the Apple Watch, which works with older generations of iPhones."

Barclays is the only big high street bank in the UK not offering Apple Pay as it attempts to compete using its own payments application. However it was reported on back in June that Barclays was still in talks with Apple and that Barclays customers had taken to Twitter to bitterly complain, with many even threatening to move banks if they didn't adopt Apple Pay. The pressure must have worked because Barclays officially tweeted that they will be on board with Apple Pay shortly.

Last month the London Underground/Tube (subway) made it known that visitors from the United States who were registered with Apple would be able to use their phones to pay for tube journeys. This morning, subway commuters in London were greeted by ads from several major banks encouraging their customers with iDevices to link their payment cards to Apple Pay.

More than likely Apple Pay will officially launch in other countries this fall including Canada, South Korean and hopefully China.

Below is a video from the "Telegraph" showing how Apple Pays works with the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch on London's Tube (subway). The Telegraph is also reporting that not all banks will be ready to work withe Apple Pay today. More will be coming on board later this fall.

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