It may be happening two months late, but UK customers of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland can now make purchases with Apple Pay, their parent announced.

Apple launched its mobile payment service in July but signing up the UK’s leading banking groups has turned into a trudge. Although some big names were on board at launch, others were not. For instance, HSBC and First Direct were two weeks late.

The announcement by Lloyds Banking Group means customers of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland can add virtual versions of their debit and credit cards to Apple Pay for making NFC-based transactions.

However, one major holdout to Apple Pay remains: Barclays, which has yet to offer the service to its customers.

Having widespread adoption by card issuers is judged key to the success of Apple Pay, and rivals such as Android Pay and Samsung Pay (neither of the latter two have launched in the UK so far).