Restaurants like Starbucks, KFC and Chili's to use Apple Pay for payments

In a bid to strengthen the mobile payment services, Starbucks Cafes will begin accepting Apple's mobile payment system in a pilot programme starting this year, said Jennifer Bailey, Vice President, Apple to Reuters.

Speaking at Re/code technology conference in Half Moon Bay, California, Bailey also mentioned that restaurant chains like KFC and Chili's will also begin accepting Apple Pay in 2016.

The service gives Apple a chance to tie customers more tightly to its phones and its smart watch, as well as to take a tiny bite from every retail transaction.

Apple launched the payment service a year ago and has claimed 2015 would be the "year of Apple Pay" as it aggressively courts retailers.

But interviews by Reuters with analysts, merchants and others have suggested that Apple's forecast may have been too optimistic and that many retailers remain sceptical about the payment system.

Customer demand for mobile wallets has been slow, and analysts agree that they remain a tiny percentage of US retail transactions.