When Apple pay was launched in the US, to a great fanfare, retailers ignored it completely because it basically involved giving Apple a cut of the sale price while not getting any information off the sale themselves.

Retailers rushed to set up their own systems and there is even more enthusiasm for the Google Pay scheme being mooted.

Now it seems that Apple has solved the problem by trying to palm it off on that nation of shopkeepers – the United Kingdom,

Apple is expected to make the announcement on today in San Francisco at its annual conference for developers. The reason is that it does not think it can find Brits to show the right levels of enthusiasm, because it is not in the British character to whoop or make sounds like Gibbon when Tim Cook makes the announcement.

It quoted the sources as saying the company had been in talks with banks and retailers about the project since last year.

Transport for London is  already accepting Apple Pay from American tourists.