As happens every two weeks, Apple has updated its
Apple Pay partners page to add yet more US financial institutions that are now supporting adding their credit and debit cards to Apple's Wallet app on iOS devices and the Apple Watch, enabling Apple Pay after a verification check. In this round, another 30 banks and credit unions have jumped on board, bringing the total to at least 1,270 institutions now offering support for the mobile wallet technology. At this point, the remaining institutions to be added are generally small local or regional institutions.
While a number of national brands, including supermarkets, clothing stores, drugstores, and restaurants have added support for Apple Pay in the US, rollout has lagged far behind bank support. This will slowly change over the course of the year, as merchants update their point-of-sale (POS) terminals to newer models that support chip-and-PIN EMV cards and by extension NFC technology used to read "contactless" cards and various mobile wallet solutions, including Apple Pay, but the delay is frustrating to users who want to take advantage of the technology on their Watch or iPhone 6 or later, not to mention users of other systems such as Android Pay.
The latest additions to the list of supporting institutions include: Alabama State Employees Credit Union, American National Bank, Bank of the South, Cabrillo Credit Union, California Credit Union, Classic Federal Credit Union, Denali Federal Credit Union, Dort Federal Credit Union, First Federal Community Bank, First Green Bank, First National Bank of Catlin, First Oklahoma Federal Credit Union, First US Bank, FMBank, Gerber Federal Credit Union, MassMutual Federal Credit Union, Members Source Credit Union, Morris County National Bank, and Muna Federal Credit Union.
Also added were Rocky Mountain Law Enforcement Federal Credit Union, Sabine Federal Credit Union, San Diego Firefighters Federal Credit Union, Scott Credit Union, Security National Bank of Omaha, Sound Credit Union, Standing Stone Bank, (University of Wisconsin) UW Credit Union, Vista Bank, Webster Bank, and Workers Credit Union. The University of Wisconsin Credit Union re-appears on the list due to a formal name change, with the University of Toledo Federal Credit Union taking the place of the previous name.
Internationally, Canada's major banks have all now agreed to implement Apple Pay support beyond the limited American Express-badged cards previously supported. Initially, RBC and Scotia Bank customers will see Canadian card support, with the other banks following suit over the next few months. In Canada and other non-US countries, "contactless" terminals are already widespread, making Apple Pay and similar systems nearly universally accepted.
In the US, Apple Pay is now accepted at most McDonald's, Exxon Mobile stations, Whole Foods stores, Best Buy, Subway restaurants, Walgreen's, and many other merchants. Apple Pay can be used with the iPhone 6 and later as well as the new iPhone SE, and also works independently of the iPhone on the Apple Watch.