Apple Pay has been touted to hit the British market on July 14, according to leaked memos from retailers who are offering the electronic payment method in-store.

While the date is not an official announcement, leaked reports from Waitrose, amongst other Apple Pay associates, show a ‘live service’ from July 14.

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More than 250,000 locations throughout the UK will accept the service when it launches, including Costa Coffee, Transport for London and the Post Office.

Apple Pay is available via the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch. It requires consumers to tap their Apple device onto a contactless terminal for an almost instantaneous transaction.

Apple Pay can also be used to buy items over the internet, with the tech giant claiming this method is more secure than traditional debit card payments as "actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on the Apple server".

In an earlier statement, Apple said: "Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay.

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[UK users] will soon receive all the benefits of protecting personal information, transaction data, and credit and debit card information with the industry-leading security Apple Pay brings."

Presently there is a £20 expenditure limit for all forms of contactless payment, including Apple Pay and bPay, Barclays’ recently launched rival product, however this figure will rise to £30 in September 2015. Although most contactless terminals are equipped with the technology to accept higher value contactless payments with an additional security measure, which Apple’s Touch ID would satisfy, it has not been confirmed whether any retailer will.

Barclays is the only large UK financial institution that has not formed an Apple Pay relationship, HSBC/first direct, RBS/NatWest/Ulster, Santander and Nationwide are set to accept payments from the launch date onwards.

Lloyds Banking Group will be accepting Apple Pay from autumn 2015.