Coffee chains launch Google's Android Pay in the UK
Costa, Starbucks, Pret a Manger and Café Nero are all accepting the touch and go payments in stores nationwide.
Apps including Deliveroo, Hotel Tonight and Kickstarter have also signed up to the system.
Android Pay – which comes pre-loaded on to many mobile handsets - allows users to add their bank details to their phone via a Google account or by taking a picture of their credit or debit card.
Customers can then make contactless payments of up to £30 using the device.
It comes ten months after the launch of Apple Pay in the UK, which lets users pay for goods using their iPhone or Apple Watch.
Restaurants ranging from Nando’s to the Michelin-starred Lima have signed up to Apple's system, though it is not yet clear whether Android Pay will be similarly rolled out across the sector.
Jon Fisher, head of mobile and loyalty at Costa, said: “The decision to work with Google to roll out Android Pay was an obvious choice.
“We currently provide other contactless payment methods across the majority of our UK stores, so offering Android Pay will give customers even more choice when it comes to payment."
Nearly 60 per cent of the UK’s smartphone users own an android handset.
According to Visa Europe, cashless payments at hospitality businesses rose 155 per cent between October 2015 to March this year.
The mobile payment sector is expected to grow to 20m users and be worth up to £15bn by 2018.
