Apple Pay

The ranks of Apple Pay partners swelled again today as Apple announced that it has added support for cards from 20 more financial institutions.

Most notable among the new institutions are Morgan Stanley and Northern Trust. Banks that joined include Central Bank, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach, First National Bank of Omaha, First Sentry Bank, FirstBank and The Independent BankersBank. Quite a few credit unions joined as well, including Affinity Federal Credit Union, Credit Union of Southern California, Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, Ideal Credit Union, Redwood Credit Union, State Department Federal Credit Union, Teachers Credit Union, Technology Credit

Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) mobile payment system, Apple Pay, is off to a tremendous start just months after launch. Numerous U.S. retailers and financial institutions have jumped onboard and Apple Pay has already gained more traction than rivals' e-wallets, including Google Wallet, which launched over three years ago. Apple is now looking for Apple Pay support across the pond.

According to The Telegraph, Apple is currently in talks with several major British banks over its "wave and pay" service. Although all the major banks realize it would be foolish not to participate, there are some points of contention in the negotiations. At least one unnamed institution is concerned with the amount of personal data Apple intends to collect.