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Apple Pay adds BECU, BBVA Compass, others ahead of rumored 'Samsung Pay' launch

Millions more consumers now have access to Apple Pay as BECU, Golden 1, Alliant, and First Tech — four of the ten largest credit unions in the country — have been added as partners alongside leading regional banks BBVA Compass and Fifth Third, while Samsung is rumored to introduce a payments program of its own at the Galaxy S6 launch next month.

BECU, or Boeing Employees' Credit Union, Alliant, First Tech, and Golden 1 together serve over 2 million members, primarily in the midwest and on the west coast. BBVA Compass —  owned by Spanish banking giant BBVA —  and Fifth Third Bank each rank among the 50 largest banks in the U.S.

Joining the new additions are smaller organizations Altra Federal Credit Union, Andrews Federal Credit Union, Ent Federal Credit Union, F&A Federal Credit Union, First Niagara Bank, INOVA Federal Credit Union, Savings Bank of Danbury, Star One Credit Union, and Uwharrie Bank.

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed during the company's most recent earnings call that $2 out of every $3 spent with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express via contactless payments flow through Apple Pay. More than 750 institutions are now signed on to support it, and an international rollout is expected to begin soon.

With Apple Pay building steam as a competitive advantage for Apple, Samsung is once again rumored to be planning a mobile payments system of its own. The Korean-language DDaily indicates that Samsung's previously-reported partnership with LoopPay will come to fruition next month alongside the also-rumored shift to a Touch ID-style fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S6.

LoopPay works differently than Apple Pay, and it remains to be seen how useful it will remain as the U.S. switches away from magnetic stripes in the coming years. LoopPay uses what it calls "magnetic secure transmission," which "spoofs" a traditional card swipe with magnetic fields when a user holds their device near a payment terminal.

Samsung is likely to have chosen this route in order to get a competing solution out as quickly as possible, in traditional "fast follower" mode. There is no word on what the company will do with the product in Europe, where magnetic swipes have already been largely phased out.