Spanish Grocery Chain Puts Apple Pay Tech In Stock

If Apple Pay comes to Spain anytime soon, supermarket chain Mercadona will be ready for it.

Mercadona has become one of the first grocery stores to invest in the Near Field Communication technology needed to integrate Apple Pay at the point of sale, according to an article in the Leader.

The grocery chain says it already has 16,000 terminals that will accept Apple Pay contactless payments, the article said.

Since its U.S. debut in October 2014, Apple Pay has been anticipated to move to Europe next, with groundwork reportedly taking place already in the U.K. A variety of mobile wallet products are already deployed throughout the continent.

Spain is already home to numerous contactless and mobile payment initiatives. La Caixa Bank launched a mobile payment venture in early 2014 with major telcos Telefonica, Vodafone and Orange, focusing initially on the Spanish market.