Apple Pay adds support for 21 U.S. banks, HSBC in Australia

By AppleInsider Staff

Overshadowed by Apple's earnings call for the second fiscal quarter of 2017, Apple Pay on Tuesday officially added support for 21 new U.S. financial institutions, as well as HSBC for Australian customers.

As usual, a bulk of Apple Pay's latest additions are local banks and regional credit unions serving less populated areas of America. Apple is slowly filling in the gaps after landing deals with a wide selection of national institutions in and around Apple Pay's launch in 2014.

Today's U.S. extension of services includes the following banks:

Alongside Apple Pay's stateside expansion, HSBC customers living in Australia can now provision their Mastercard or Visa credit cards for use with iPhone, Apple Watch and Mac.

Apple Pay has seen accelerated growth over the past year with major launches in Japan and Spain. The fledgling payments product also bolstered support in Russia, as well as vital market additions in China and Singapore.

During an investor conference call on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Pay transactions were up 450 percent year-over-year for the three-month period ending on April 1. The payments solution is part of Apple's services arm, a source of consistent revenue growth that jumped 18 percent in the most recent quarter.