Apple Pay launches in Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, more [u]

Apple on Wednesday began rolling out Apple Pay services in Portugal and Slovakia with financial backing from a number of large European banks including Monese and N26.

Users in Portugal and Slovakia posted screenshots of the Apple Pay setup process to social media outlets. Others shared news of a special "Get Started with Apple Pay" section that appeared at the top of the Today page in regional App Stores early Wednesday.

The rollout in Slovakia is supported by a mix of local and mobile banks including Boon, Edenred, J&T Banka, Monese, N26, Revolut, Slovenska sporitelna, Tatra banka and mBank. In Portugal, Apple Pay is available only to users of larger banking services Monese, N26 and Revolut.

German online bank N26 was first to announce integration with Apple's service in March, promising at the time to deliver Apple Pay to Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. UK-based mobile bank Monese followed suit in May, saying the integration will deliver Apple Pay to 13 new European markets including the Portugal and Slovakia.

Most recently, UK financial technology firm Revolut partnered with Apple at the end of May. Today's rollout marks the first expansion to Revolut's Apple Pay integration, which launched in France, Poland and the UK.

Revolut says that the launch covers Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Apple is expected to update its regional Portugal and Slovakia websites with a dedicated webpage informing users about the service and where to use it.

Today's Apple Pay rollout confirms in part reports over the weekend that claimed the payments solution would be made available to users in Greece, Portugal and Slovakia on Wednesday.

Updated with full list of countries supported by Revolut's expansion.