Barclays has confirmed that its customers will be able to use Apple Pay from today, almost nine months after the launch of the mobile payment service.  Barclays, which has been pushing its own payment solutions, is the last major UK bank to join the Apple Pay system.

Customers will now be able to make payments using iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad at over 400,000 contactless locations in the UK, across the London transport network, as well as when shopping within participating retailers’ apps.

The bank is thought to have been reluctant to partner with Apple given its own contactless platform, bPay, which allows customers to make payments using a fob, wristband or bPay sticker through their account. It has also experimented with contactless gloves and jackets in the past.

Apple Pay currently works on five models of iPhone (the 6, 6s and SE generations) and all three versions of the Apple Watch thanks to embedded near-field communication (NFC) chips.

Registering debit or credit cards to a compatible iPhone allows users to make payments or transactions by pressing a thumb or finger to the Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the home button to verify their identity. Customers can also use it to travel around London’s TfL networks.

Barclays joins Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Tesco Bank, TSB and Ulster Bank – all of which already offer Apple Pay.

“We are passionate about helping customers access services and carry out their day to day transactions in the way that suits them. As part of this, we have developed a range of digital innovations that allow people to choose how, when and where they bank and make payments. Adding to the existing choice, from today both Barclays debit and Barclaycard credit card customers can use Apple Pay to make payments with their Apple device across the UK,” said Ashok Vaswani, CEO Barclays UK.