Apple Pay adds BECU, BBVA Compass, others ahead of rumored 'Samsung Pay' launch
Millions more consumers now have access to Apple Pay as BECU, Golden 1, Alliant, and First Tech -- four of the ten largest credit unions in the country -- have been added as partners alongside leading regional banks BBVA Compass and Fifth Third, while Samsung is rumored to introduce a payments program of its own at the Galaxy S6 launch next month.
BECU, or Boeing Employees' Credit Union, Alliant, First Tech, and Golden 1 together serve over 2 million members, primarily in the midwest and on the west coast. BBVA Compass --?owned by Spanish banking giant BBVA --?and Fifth Third Bank each rank among the 50 largest banks in the U.S.
Joining the new additions are smaller organizations Altra Federal Credit Union, Andrews Federal Credit Union, Ent Federal Credit Union, F&A Federal Credit Union, First Niagara Bank, INOVA Federal Credit Union, Savings Bank of Danbury, Star One Credit Union, and Uwharrie Bank.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed during the company's most recent earnings call that $2 out of every $3 spent with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express via contactless payments flow through Apple Pay. More than 750 institutions are now signed on to support it, and an international rollout is expected to begin soon.
With Apple Pay building steam as a competitive advantage for Apple, Samsung is once again rumored to be planning a mobile payments system of its own. The Korean-language DDaily indicates that Samsung's previously-reported partnership with LoopPay will come to fruition next month alongside the also-rumored shift to a Touch ID-style fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S6.
LoopPay works differently than Apple Pay, and it remains to be seen how useful it will remain as the U.S. switches away from magnetic stripes in the coming years. LoopPay uses what it calls "magnetic secure transmission," which "spoofs" a traditional card swipe with magnetic fields when a user holds their device near a payment terminal.
Samsung is likely to have chosen this route in order to get a competing solution out as quickly as possible, in traditional "fast follower" mode. There is no word on what the company will do with the product in Europe, where magnetic swipes have already been largely phased out.
BECU, or Boeing Employees' Credit Union, Alliant, First Tech, and Golden 1 together serve over 2 million members, primarily in the midwest and on the west coast. BBVA Compass --?owned by Spanish banking giant BBVA --?and Fifth Third Bank each rank among the 50 largest banks in the U.S.
Joining the new additions are smaller organizations Altra Federal Credit Union, Andrews Federal Credit Union, Ent Federal Credit Union, F&A Federal Credit Union, First Niagara Bank, INOVA Federal Credit Union, Savings Bank of Danbury, Star One Credit Union, and Uwharrie Bank.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed during the company's most recent earnings call that $2 out of every $3 spent with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express via contactless payments flow through Apple Pay. More than 750 institutions are now signed on to support it, and an international rollout is expected to begin soon.
With Apple Pay building steam as a competitive advantage for Apple, Samsung is once again rumored to be planning a mobile payments system of its own. The Korean-language DDaily indicates that Samsung's previously-reported partnership with LoopPay will come to fruition next month alongside the also-rumored shift to a Touch ID-style fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S6.
LoopPay works differently than Apple Pay, and it remains to be seen how useful it will remain as the U.S. switches away from magnetic stripes in the coming years. LoopPay uses what it calls "magnetic secure transmission," which "spoofs" a traditional card swipe with magnetic fields when a user holds their device near a payment terminal.
Samsung is likely to have chosen this route in order to get a competing solution out as quickly as possible, in traditional "fast follower" mode. There is no word on what the company will do with the product in Europe, where magnetic swipes have already been largely phased out.
Comments
Fandroids will preach - before even knowing the details - that SamsungPay is way more secure than ApplePay could ever be, even though none of them use it.
There is not one product that Samsung has made, both on the software and hardware side, that is truly a "polished" product like the iPhone and iOS. Why do people continue to hype what is a failed company?
Samsung makes crap. Accept it and move on. Whatever Samsung does in this department is going to be a dismal failure in the end.
Sends over the air something that's not supposed to. Doesn't yet use tokens. Stores card numbers on the phone. And since it's not NFC, the phone needs to be manually unlocked, the app launched ecc...
No one is going to use it.
Samsung has had what, 6 months to copy Apple? Like everything else they do, it will be sh**.
I understand this process takes time... but it seems like it will be a while until we get the [B][URL=http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/10/16Apple-Pay-Set-to-Transform-Mobile-Payments-Starting-October-20.html]500 banks[/URL][/B] that Tim Cook said before.
These articles come out every so often proclaiming "11 new banks" or "14 new banks"... and there are roughly 50 banks who are using Apple Pay at the moment.
I understand this process takes time... but it seems like it will be a while until we get the 500 banks that Tim Cook said before.
I'm guessing they are more concerned about getting the 100 largest banks signed up than the other 400.
They... meaning Apple?
I wonder who is more motivated though... Apple or the banks? Both have a lot to gain from this.
I'd be curious to know the process of becoming an Apple Pay bank. Like... if I was in charge of a small regional bank... could I get onto Apple Pay quicker than a large national bank?
I'm guessing there is a stuff that has to happen. Maybe Apple can only accept 10 new banks a month.
Apple has to negotiate with each financial institution separately. That takes time.
Oh I know.
I was just pointing out that at the present rate... it will take a long time to get the 500 banks that Apple mentioned.
50 banks in 3 months... 500 banks in 30 months (?)
I'm sure the process is becoming more streamlined though.
I'm just excited for the day Apple drops the motherload of 100 new banks in a single press release.
... Samsung's previously-reported partnership with LoopPay will come to fruition next month alongside the also-rumored shift to a Touch ID-style fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S6.
Hackers: start your ENGINES!
Ah ah Looppay
Sends over the air something that's not supposed to. Doesn't yet use tokens. Stores card numbers on the phone. And since it's not NFC, the phone needs to be manually unlocked, the app launched ecc...
No one is going to use it.
What. A. Night. Mare.
Let's get something straight. Samsung does not have a "competing solution". Samsung continue to do what they are very good at. Come out with crappy solutions on day one, say they are "at the forefront of innovation", let it hang on the vine for a couple months to rot away.
Fandroids will preach - before even knowing the details - that SamsungPay is way more secure than ApplePay could ever be, even though none of them use it.
There is not one product that Samsung has made, both on the software and hardware side, that is truly a "polished" product like the iPhone and iOS. Why do people continue to hype what is a failed company?
Samsung makes crap. Accept it and move on. Whatever Samsung does in this department is going to be a dismal failure in the end.
Except in this case, it isn't a crappy product at day one, which at least has a redeeming feature (DAY ONE!!). This is a crappy, obsolete product on day 90. I don't remember the last time I swiped my card. I'm in canada and everything is chip and pin here. Not only is the technology they will use a "hack", it is a horrid, outdated, insecure implementation, that is not even supported by any kind of solid ecosystem or software. Just like Samsung's grotesquely horrendous fingerprint swiper on the S5, which came out many months after the 5S and was infinitely worse, this follows the same trend. Samsung is utterly irrelevant, when it comes to new technologies that are well implemented and adopted. Their software and hardware gimmicks tend to last only 1 product cycle until they are scrapped.
I'm guessing they are more concerned about getting the 100 largest banks signed up than the other 400.
They... meaning Apple?
No. They… meaning your two moms.
Who, the heck were you talking about, if you weren't talking about Apple?
And then I led into another question asking who was more motivated... the banks or Apple.
Relax.
I have asked many retail cashiers if I can use Apple Pay, & the response I get is, "I don't know what it is" or, " I haven't even heard of it." It would be nice to hand them a business card sized info sheet explaining it, or better yet, to the head cashier/store manager. Apple could assist its Apple Pay users to get the word out by having a PDF download for business cards so that users can print out these info sheets/cards to stick in your wallet or purse. It would have a brief summary of what Apple pay is & how it benefits businesses by lowering overhead & preventing fraud. It would contain an Apple website for further detailed information on the benefits, designed specifically for the retailers & their banks. Since not everyone is familiar with printing that format, then perhaps 4-up on a sheet of paper that can be cut. I would be glad to do it, as I already spend the time with an often puzzled cashier who may not retain nor pass on the info because he/she wants to check out the rest of the people in line. Getting the info into a store management person's hand can cause discussion at store staff meetings, emails up & down the chain with inquires & responses. At least the store would have a better answer for their customer inquiries such as, "we're looking into it," "it's not for us at this time or, "we use another system."