Roger Fingas
Apple on Tuesday added 46 US banks to its list of Apple Pay backers, putting the total over 500 for the first time as it prepares to roll out a series of further improvements to its mobile payment platform.
Some important firms in the update include Citizens Bank, E-Trade Bank, and the credit unions for MIT, Johns Hopkins, and McGraw-Hill. Many of the new issuers are highly localized, such as Austin's Amplify Federal Credit Union.
The update is Apple's first since its Sept. 9 press event. That day, Discover announced that its credit cards would be ready for Apple Pay on Sept. 16, alongside iOS 9. On Sept. 11, U.K. banks Lloyds, Halifax, and the Bank of Scotland joined the platform.
When iOS 9 debuts it will usher in other important changes, for instance renaming the Passbook app to Wallet, and implementing support for store credit and rewards cards. iPhone owners will also be able to open Wallet by double-tapping the home button when their phone is locked.
The complete list of new U.S. banks includes:
- Amplify Federal Credit Union
- Bank of the Ozarks
- Branch Banking & Trust
- Bridgehampton National Bank
- Capital Educators Federal Credit Union
- Centra Credit Union
- Charlotte Metro Credit Union
- Citizens Bank
- Coastal Federal Credit Union
- Credit Union 1
- Dollar Bank, FSB
- Eglin FCU
- E-Trade Bank
- First Community Bank
- First Community Credit Union (OR)
- First Florida Credit Union
- First National Bank of Waseca
- Floridian Bank
- Georgia United Credit Union
- Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union
- Kennebunk Savings Bank
- Kirtland Federal Credit Union
- Leaders Credit Union
- Maine Savings Federal Credit Union
- McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union
- Merchants Bank
- MIT Federal Credit Union
- National Penn Bank
- Navigant Credit Union
- Nodaway Valley Bank
- Nymeo
- OU Federal Credit Union
- Pacific NW Federal Credit Union
- Power Financial Credit Union
- Seaboard Federal Credit Union
- SECU of Maryland
- Southern Security FCU
- Southwest Financial Federal Credit Union
- Sterling Federal Bank
- The Cape Cod Five Cent Saving Bank
- The Focus Federal Credit Union
- Trupoint Bank
- UBI Federal Credit Union
- Vinton County National Bank
- Watertown Savings Bank
- Xceed Financial Federal Credit Union
Amber Neely
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
27 Comments
Still no Royal Banks of Missouri. (Sigh)
Just out of curiosity, how many US Banks and Credit Unions are there? What percentage does this cover so far?
Give me more places that take it, and consistency with how the transactions are handled. However, with the rollout of the 6s and 6s Plus, we'll at least see a dramatic increase in the number of iPhones compatible with Apple Pay.
Give me more places that take it, and consistency with how the transactions are handled. However, with the rollout of the 6s and 6s Plus, we'll at least see a dramatic increase in the number of iPhones compatible with Apple Pay.
Agreed. Attempted to use at Rite Aid the other day and the terminal insisted I enter the PIN for my debit card. Clearly something was amiss.
Really don't care about adding "500 Banks"; now if we can add 500+ retailers that accept Apple Pay, that would be a better outcome. I realize that retailers will be updating their credit card terminals soon, however the rollout for more retailers has been slow. All I have around here are McDonalds, Panera, Wallgreen, and Staples. There's no Whole Foods, have Fresh Market & Publix. Also wondering if Gas Station payment terminals are getting the upgrade from the swipe/insert process that we're using currently?