Apple Pay services launch in Germany four years after its debut in the US

Apple has launched its mobile payments service in Germany, four years after it started in the United States. This move for Apple Pay trails Google, which started its payments app in the country in June.Customers at banks such as Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank unit Comdirect, Hypovereinsbank, Wirecard, Hanseatic Bank and of credit card providers Mastercard, Visa and American Express will from Tuesday be able to use Apple Pay, the companies said in separate statements.[caption id="attachment_5135361" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A man uses an iPhone 7 smartphone to demonstrate the mobile payment service Apple Pay at a cafe in Moscow, Russia, October 3, 2016. Picture taken October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev - S1BEUEYZNGAB[/caption]Retailers such as discounters Aldi and Lidl, supermarket chain Kaufland, drugstores Rossmann and DM, department store chain Kaufhof, clothing retailers H&M, Esprit, C&A and Zara as well as consumer electronics chain MediaMarkt will accept payment with the app, which allows customers to pay contactless by holding their smartphone in front of a payment terminal.While Apple has already launched its payment services in 20 other countries including France, Poland and Switzerland, a fight over fees had delayed the start in Germany.