Michelin restaurants sign up to Apple Pay

Michelin-starred Lima, Lima Floral, Bib Gourmand recipient Comptoir Gascon, the Salt Yard Group, Opso, Salmontini and Chisou are allowing diners to pay using an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or an Apple Watch.

While chains such as Wagamama, Nando’s, Pret a Manger and Starbucks have been quick to adopt the technology​, upscale restaurants have initially appeared more hesitant.

However, Apple Pay has reached an impressive roster of restaurants as part of a partnership with the Uncover app - which provides last minute bookings at some of the capital’s top venues.

“Mobile payment is expected to grow to 20m users and [be worth] up to £15bn by 2018,” said Uncover head of product Dan Ziv.

“The billing process – from receiving the request from the customer, to the customer actually paying is dramatically reduced thanks to mobile payments.

“This will allow wait staff to focus on other areas of service rather than the rigmarole around payments.”

Participating restaurants have so far welcomed the introduction of the technology, which allows diners to pay and split the bill with a swipe of the finger.

Gabriel Gonzalez, managing director Lima and Lima Floral, said: “We have always been technology forward and it is clear that mobile payments are the wave of the future, as consumers will expect to have a seamless end-of-night experience.”

Apple pay looks poised to spread throughout UK restaurants, with mobile platform providers including MyCheck, Elavon, Zonal and Flypay quick to adopt the technology.

Uncover, which launched five months ago, claims to have delivered over £650,000 in incremental revenue to its 275-strong portfolio of restaurants in that time - and it hopes Apple Pay will further drive the bottom line.

“There is already an expectation from diners that the best restaurants will accept mobile payments," said Ziv.

"We are getting ahead of the curve by providing a unique point of difference for both customers using the app, as well as our roster of restaurants who are acknowledging the demand for this functionality."