Contactless Payment

I think I probably touch on the same themes every time I come back to the UK, so I apologize if I sound like a broken record.  But I'm once again struck by the prevalence of contactless payment.  Every single retailer uses it.  Transport uses it (such as the bus I took today).  It makes the payment process so much quicker and easier (and in these covid times, safer).  And I simply cannot understand why it hasn't been widely adopted in the US, at least in my experience.  I have never used contactless payment in the US.  I'm not even sure if all my cards are capable of this form of payment, or whether the retailers I frequent are capable of accepting this form of payment.  I do think that Apple Pay is available at many places - but that is not quite the same.  It's weird, symbolic of how backward he US seems to be compared to the rest of the developed world in this regard.  And much less secure.  After all, this is the same country where chip and signature is the norm rather than chip and PIN - another serious gripe.