[NewsPoster]

Apple on Tuesday updated its list of Apple Pay participating card issuers to a total of 503 with the addition of 46 new US banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. The total does not include banks outside the US, such as those in the UK. Among the more prominent names in the latest list are Citizens Bank, E-Trade Bank, John Hopkins Federal Credit Union, Merchants Bank, and the amusingly-named Cape Cod Five Cent Saving Bank.

While US card issuers have been relatively strong and quick with support for Apple Pay, a mobile payment technology announced last fall, merchants have generally been slow to adopt the "contactless" NFC-based point-of-sale terminals that work with Apple's latest iPhones and Apple Watch to facilitate highly-secure payment. MacNN Editor Charles Martin, who travels frequently between the US and Canada, notes that his US-based card used on his Apple Watch is much more widely accepted up north than in the US, despite Canada not officially supporting Apple Pay for its own banking system yet.

The full list of new Apple pay issuers 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 of Oregon, 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, and Leaders Credit Union

Also included in the list were 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, and Xceed Financial Federal Credit Union.

[pottymouth]

No shit. Citizens? I almost gave up on them. The other card I use regularly is Discover. Have you covered that Discover goes up tomorrow, too? And they say they'll offer 10% cash back when using ApplePay/Discover in store through the end of the year.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150909006702/en/Discover-Announces-Apple-Pay-Availability-10-Cashback

Might need me some new hardware!

[Mike Wuerthele]

Yeah, covered it last week.

[iSkippy]

Canada's merchants have been pretty good about supporting contactess payments (and chip-and-pin, but that's a whole other story). Both my debit and credit card, both issued by President's Choice Financial, support contactless payments, and with most retailers, the limit is about $100. It certainly would be nice to see Apple Pay make the trip above the 49th (even though I don't have any hardware that supports it yet).

[Charles Martin]

iSkippy: the rumor mill says that will happen in November, and we're inclined to agree that it is likely. As you've noted, the infrastructure is already in place (nearly everywhere); it's a matter of getting Canada's notoriously (in a good way) conservative banks to sign off on it.