Apple Pay gains over 30 more card issuers in US, China & Australia, re-adds Santander

[kristine]

Apple this week updated its list of banks and credit unions supporting Apple Pay with over 30 additions across the U.S., China, and Australia, most notably re-adding Santander in the U.S., which was mistakenly put on the list a month ago.


Apple removed Santander almost instantly after listing it in late February. The bank is a major international firm, and was already a key Apple Pay backer in Spain and the U.K.

Australia has gained just one card issuer, Firefighters Mutual Bank, while China has picked up two, the Bank of Ningxia and Tianjin Binhai Rural Commercial Bank.

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The full list of U.S. additions includes:

Bank of Botetourt
BankNewport
Barksdale Federal CreditUnion
Citizens National Bank of Cheboygan
Cornerstone Financial CreditUnion
Country Bank
Fairport Savings Bank
Fidelity Bank (PA)
First Central State Bank
First Community Bank (TX)
First Community Bank of Beemer
First Community Credit Union (MO)
First National Bank of Shiner
Home Credit US
Indiana University CreditUnion
Lyons National Bank
Members Credit Union
Metro Credit Union
MWD Federal Credit Union
OAS Staff Federal CreditUnion
Polish National Credit Union
Rocky Mountain Bank
Santander Bank
Seattle Metropolitan CreditUnion
STAR Financial Bank
The First National Bank in Trinidad
Town of Hempstead Employees Federal Credit Union
Woodforest National Bank


Apple is still engaged in a struggle to expand Apple Pay support in Australia, faced with opposition from four major local banks calling for access to the NFC chips on iPhones. The banks have argued that such access is essential for "meaningful competition" between mobile wallet platforms, since alternatives are often less convenient, and Apple controls a large share of the Australian smartphone market. Apple has countered by claiming opening up to third parties would weaken security.