Barclaycard and Barclays customers can now use Apple Pay for contactless payments in the UK, nine months after the service was first launched.

The UK bank has been a notable holdout against Apple’s mobile payment service, although it has come under pressure from those among its cardholders who want to use it.

Barclays and its Barclaycard unit have been intent on developing an in-house payments strategy, including a HCE-based contactless payment app based on Android, and the bPay range of wearable payment devices.

The bank claims to have introduced the first contactless credit cards in the UK in 2007 and says it was the first bank to roll-out contactless debit cards to its customers.