Piling on to what has already been a big day for Apple Pay, Apple on Tuesday announced a U.S. expansion of payment services that includes support from 13 new banks and credit unions, bringing the total up to nearly 1,375 financial institutions.
Apple revealed the changes in an update to its running list of participating Apple Pay providers. As usual, credit unions make up a bulk of today's additions:
- First Basin Credit Union
- First Federal Bank of Wisconsin
- Guardian Credit Union
- Mass Bay Credit Union
- Minnco Credit Union
- North Shore Bank of Commerce
- Phelps County Bank
- Proponent Federal Credit Union
- Resource Bank
- Seaside National Bank & Trust
- South Bay Credit Union
- Texas Tech Credit Union
- Valley Federal Credit Union
The U.S. update comes on the heels of bigger news. Earlier today, Apple activated Apple Pay in France, the product's eighth launch market, then in Hong Kong just a few hours later. Like recent international introductions, both countries net initial integration with Mastercard and Visa credit cards, while users in Hong Kong also get support for American Express.
Apple is ramping up efforts to build out Apple Pay in Asia and Europe as competitors Google and Samsung bring their own touchless payment solutions to market. Apple Pay launched in 2014, though the expansion process has proved difficult. So far, Apple has brokered deals to bring the service to Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK.
As for the U.S. market, Apple last updated its support website in June with the addition of 44 banks and credit unions.