They missed the 14 July launch date but two weeks later customers of UK bank HSBC and its First Direct unit can now join Apple Pay.

Customers of HSBC and First Direct, the former’s telephone and internet-only banking unit, can add their credit and debit cards to Apple Pay, joining NatWest, Nationwide, RBS, Santander and Ulster bank from earlier this month.

HSBC and First Direct were due in the first wave but unexpectedly pulled out, pledging themselves instead to an end-July launch. They have made that deadline.

But other leading banks have still not enabled Apple Pay for their customers but have said they will take the plunge before the end of 2015. They include Bank of Scotland, Coutts, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, MBNA, M&S Bank and TSB.

The glaring omission is Barclays, which is a leader among UK banks when it comes to mobile payments, thanks to its P2P Pingit service. The bank recently launched its own bPay devices, which enable point-of-sale payments, bringing it into competition with Apple Pay. So far, the bank has made no statement about supporting Apple’s payment service.