Slovakia and the Czech Republic were widely rumoured to be the next two European markets to receive Apple Pay, as the technology giant continues worldwide rollout of its mobile wallet service.

Reports from Apple Insider and a number of publications across the two countries estimate they will receive the service during the current quarter, with banking partners already in place.

Apple has already launched in several other Central and Eastern European countries including Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Retailers in most of the largest countries in Northern and Western Europe already accept Apple Pay.

Germany and Belgium were the previous two European destinations added to its footprint in Q4 2018, though these came five months after the previous batch.

Samsung is yet to launch its mobile payment service in either Czech Republic or Slovakia, while Google Pay launched in the Czech Republic in November 2017, originally under the guise of Android Pay, and Slovakia three months later.