Apple Pay was introduced last year during Apple's September iPhone event and debuted alongside iOS 8.1. Months after launch, the service continues to expand with two major announcements today that mark the further expansion of the mobile payments service into regional supermarket chains and the continued adoption by consumers.
Starting today, California supermarket chain Save Mart Supermarkets is rolling out Apple Pay to all 217 Northern California and Nevada stores it operates under the Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, Maxx Value Foods, and FoodMaxx brands. Save Mart Co-President & Chief Strategy and Branding Officer Nicole Piccinini Pesco said that the grocery store chain is adding Apple Pay for the "benefit and convenience" of their customers, adding that Apple Pay will "transform the shopping experience for our customers".
While Apple Pay continues to expand to new retailers, consumer interest in the mobile payment service also remains strong. As part of its Q4 2014 earnings report, Bank of America today announced that almost 800,000 customers have enrolled in Apple Pay and have added approximately 1.1 million cards to the service since it launched in October 2014.
The number of mobile banking customers increased 15 percent from the year-ago quarter to 16.5 million users, and 12 percent of deposit transactions by customers were done through mobile, compared to 9 percent in the year-ago quarter. Since the introduction of Apple Pay™ in October, nearly 800,000 customers have enrolled in the service, adding approximately 1.1 million cards.
Bank of America was a launch partner for Apple Pay, and the company has continued to promote Apple Pay since that time, releasing advertisements showcasing the convenience of using Apple's mobile payments service with a Bank of America credit card.
