Starting today, long time hold out of supporting Apple Pay, Kroger a supermarket chain in the US is now accepting Apple Pay and other contactless services, such as Google Pay and presumably, contactless credit cards too. Customers can now visit the store and use their Apple Watch or iPhone to pay at the checkout.

Throughout the US, Kroger has 1,200 locations and at this stage, it isn’t clear if the plan is to rollout support to all of its stores. So far, as of the time of writing, some select locations in Kentucky and Ohio will be supporting Apple Pay.

Back when Apple launched Apple Pay in 2014, there were a number of hold out companies, such as Kroger, Walmart, Lowe’s, The Home Depot and more. Walmart and Kroger have been prioritising their own apps, which in the case of Kroger is its Kroger Pay app, which customers can use to scan a QR code at checkout and pay that way. This is presumably to avoid the significant investment needed to rip and replace all of their tills with new NFC and contactless based machines.

As of 2022, Apple has said that in the US, more than 90% of retailers are now accepting Apple Pay.