Dozens More Companies Sign Up for Apple Pay

On Tuesday, Apple announced that in recent weeks the company had signed up dozens more banks, retail stores and startups for Apple Pay, the company's new e-commerce product, which allows customers to buy things with little more than a wave of their iPhone.

The companies that recently agreed to work with the service include SunTrust, Barclaycard and USAA. Ten more banks, including TD Bank North America and Commerce Bank, will back the new form of payment Tuesday.

Staples, the big-box office supplies retailer, accepts Apple Pay (Review) at its 1,400 U.S. locations. Chain grocers like Winn-Dixie and Albertsons take it, too. And on Friday, Amway Center, the home to the Orlando Magic basketball team, will accept Apple Pay at many of its retail and food and beverage stands during games.

While Apple declined to give any new figures on how Apple Pay is doing, other companies have given hints that the service has legs. Whole Foods, the high-end grocery chain that has accepted Apple Pay since the service was released in October, said it had processed more than 150,000 Apple Pay transactions in the early days after the product's release. McDonald's, another original participating company, said Apple Pay accounted for 50 percent of its tap-to-pay transactions in November.

(Also see: Apple Pay a Success With Over 1 Million Activations: CEO Tim Cook)

Others giant companies like Google, Verizon and AT&T have offered similar takes on a smartphone-based e-commerce product, to little avail.

"Retailers and payment companies see Apple Pay as the implementation that has the best chance at mass consumer adoption, which has eluded prior attempts," said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy, a research firm. "They believe it will solve many of the problems they had before with electronic payments."

Alex Martins, chief executive of the Orlando Magic, said he thought Apple Pay would play a part in bringing other industries into a new digital age.

"One of the biggest pieces of feedback we get from our fans is that the food and beverage lines are too long," Martins said. "It keeps them from going to the concession stand because they don't want to miss the action. This, and technologies like Apple Pay, will speed up our service."

Some industry watchers are bullish on what Apple may do for the mobile payments industry overall. One estimate sees U.S. mobile payments volume reaching $142 billion (roughly Rs. 8,98,469 crores) by 2019, according to Forrester Research. Much of that will be a result of Apple Pay's effect on the industry, Denée Carrington, a Forrester analyst, said.

Carrington expects Apple Pay to reach $34 billion (roughly Rs. 2,15,126 crores) in e-commerce volume in the United States by 2019.

© 2014 New York Times News Service