Retailers in the US are seeing an uplift in tap-to-pay transactions in the three weeks following the launch of Apple Pay, according to The New York Times.

Grocery chain Whole Foods said it had processed more than 150,000 Apple Pay transactions, while Walgreens, the nationwide pharmacy, said mobile wallet payments had doubled since the arrival of Apple’s NFC-based payment service.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s said Apple Pay accounted for half of its NFC-based transactions.

Apple has boosted general awareness of mobile payments, even rivals say so.

Rival Softcard said its app has been downloaded more often by new subscribers and used more often by its existing base,  said CEO Michael Abbott.

Google Wallet also said it had experienced more usage since the debut of the rival payment service.