Apple Pay picks up 18 more US banks ahead of Sept. 9 press event
Apple on Wednesday added 18 more U.S. banks to the roster of Apple Pay card issuers, in what could be the last such update before bigger plans are announced on Sept. 9.
The new entries are evenly split between traditional banks and credit unions. This follows the trend of recent updates, including the last one in mid-August, when Apple also added just 18 new partners.
A variety of Apple Pay announcements could be made during the Sept. 9 press event. Already confirmed are iOS 9-related changes, such as the Passbook app being renamed Wallet, and support for loyalty and reward cards as well as Discover.
Apple may also announce more U.K. banks however, along with new merchant partners. It could also reveal plans to bring the service to more countries, as rumors have pegged a Canadian launch for November.
The complete list of new U.S. issuers includes:
The new entries are evenly split between traditional banks and credit unions. This follows the trend of recent updates, including the last one in mid-August, when Apple also added just 18 new partners.
A variety of Apple Pay announcements could be made during the Sept. 9 press event. Already confirmed are iOS 9-related changes, such as the Passbook app being renamed Wallet, and support for loyalty and reward cards as well as Discover.
Apple may also announce more U.K. banks however, along with new merchant partners. It could also reveal plans to bring the service to more countries, as rumors have pegged a Canadian launch for November.
The complete list of new U.S. issuers includes:
- AltaOne Federal Credit Union
- American Bank of Commerce
- Capital Bank, N.A.
- Cardinal Community Credit Union
- Del-One Federal Credit Union
- Enterprise Bank and Trust Co.
- Envision Credit Union
- First Commonwealth Bank
- First National Bank and Trust
- First South Financial Credit Union
- FirstMerit Bank
- Fort Worth City Credit Union
- Leominster Credit Union
- Magnolia Federal Credit Union
- Monticello Banking Company
- Northfield Bank
- Southern States Bank
- Spire Credit Union
Comments
TonyPie is right: adding banks and credit unions is the easy part now and, frankly, the ever expanding list is ho-hum -- Apple really needs to make inroads with more (many more) merchants. Currently ApplePay is virtually useless in New York city unless buying Walgreens' toothpaste or expensive Starbucks coffee. If I have to pull my credit card out 99% of the time then ApplePay is, like hit-and-miss Siri, presently a gimmick.
1) Siri isn't a gimmick, people like me use it almost daily to send short messages and update our calendars. which is why it's been copied by Google and Microsoft and Amazon.
2) once US vendors start switching to modern POS terminals with NFC, you'll be able to use AP anywhere. that's not s question of if, rather when. so until then, it's essential to get the banks on board.
TonyPie is right: adding banks and credit unions is the easy part now and, frankly, the ever expanding list is ho-hum -- Apple really needs to make inroads with more (many more) merchants. Currently ApplePay is virtually useless in New York city unless buying Walgreens' toothpaste or expensive Starbucks coffee. If I have to pull my credit card out 99% of the time then ApplePay is, like hit-and-miss Siri, presently a gimmick.
The need for the new terminals (most with NFC) imposed by the credit card companies will provide what you want shortly.
1) Siri isn't a gimmick, people like me use it almost daily to send short messages and update our calendars. which is why it's been copied by Google and Microsoft and Amazon.
2) once US vendors start switching to modern POS terminals with NFC, you'll be able to use AP anywhere. that's not s question of if, rather when. so until then, it's essential to get the banks on board.
1) Siri has to work for it to not be a gimmick. There is nothing more frustrating than dictating a command to Siri...listening to moments of thinking silence...followed by failure. The first thought that always occurs to me is, I could have just done it manually by now...what good is this thing if it doesn't always work? And I'm not talking about failing to understand speech...I'm talking about its slow response time and its tendency to just not work.
2) ApplePay is marred by the same issues. If you go to use it an it doesn't work because, a) the terminal is POS, b) ApplePay support is turned off this week, c) the clerk has no idea what to press to authorize it....your immediate reaction is not use it again.
It has to be understood that there are repercussions to putting things like this out without great support. If the customer experience doesn't absolutely excel on cutting edge things like digital payments and voice commands....they immediately lose all appeal to users. Apple has, IMO, made a mistake of getting behind these technologies without great real-world support for them...pushing them as big features when they are barely usable is not good.
BS
You are hunting for an excuse to not adopt a new technology. Your choice of mobile carrier has more bearing on Siri working than any actual technical aspect of the phone. It is the same with Apple pay, all the merchants with legacy POS equipment will be forced to accept NFC if they want to stay in business.
To give a reference point, there are many Asian stores that still think they can demand cash-only, but few people deal with cash-only any more. If I don't have cash and I see a cash only sign, I go to another store rather than go find an ATM that doesn't charge fees. This is the same idea, you can't 'swipe' a NFC payment. Many people will still have swipe-able cards for a few years, but you will soon see those magstripe cards go away since the U.S. Is the last country to jump onto the EMV payments.
The biggest loser in the change to credit cards, EMV, and NFC payments are 'cash tipping'
Like, with the exception of conventions, I've exclusively used NFC or EMV chip everywhere. Cash is filthy.