Apples mobile payment service is now available in more than 2m retail locations globally, far surpassing the companys initial objective to roll out compatibility to 1.5m retailers by the end of 2015.

According to a report by Bloomberg, published by The Business Times, the solution has also seen strong adoption for digital purchases, with in-app transaction volume also more than doubling in the last six months of 2015, compared to the first half.

Brands including Au Bon Pain, Crate & Barrel and Chick-fil-A having recently announced they will be adopting Apple Pay at their locations in the US, and the platform is rolling out to retailers including Costcutter, JD Sports and New Look in the UK.

However, the solution still has a long way to go, with only 16.6 per cent of people who own iPhones capable of running Apple Pay having used it to make a payment, up from nine per cent in November 2014. With increasing competition from emerging platforms like Walmart, which has launched its own mobile payment solution for within its stores, and JPMorgan Chase, which is launching a mobile payments solution later this year, Apple may have to work harder to encourage its customers to adopt its platform.

Still with mobile payments set to increase from $450bn (£307bn) in 2015 to $620bn in 2016, according to a report from TrendForce, Apples investment in getting retailers to adopt its solution is likely to pay off in the long run.