OREANDA-NEWS. April 09, 2015. Making its way across the country, more than twenty new banks and credit unions are now live with Apple Pay giving MasterCard cardholders from California to Florida the opportunity to leverage this simple and secure mobile payment option. Apple Pay continues its rapid growth, delivering payment choice to an increasing number of consumers.

MasterCard cardholders with a consumer credit or debit card from BMO Harris, Cambridge Savings, Canton School Employees Federal Credit Union, Centennial Bank, Citadel Federal Credit Union, First Community Bank & Trust, First Community Credit Union, Foothill Federal Credit Union, GTE Financial, Hiway Federal Credit Union, KeyBank, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Logix Federal Credit Union, Meijer Credit Union, Mission Federal Credit Union, Point Bank, Prosperity Bank, Sandy Spring Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, US Bank, Wanigas Credit Union, Wesbanco and West Community Credit Union now have access to easier, more secure everyday payments through Apple Pay. In addition, cardholders with a MasterCard small business card from Bethpage Federal Credit Union or Navy Federal Credit Union can also now leverage Apple Pay.

Owners of the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 can now use their U.S. MasterCard consumer credit or debit cards from a growing list of banks and credit unions through Apple Pay. Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When you add a credit or debit card into Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique security code.

“People are passionate about their devices and they’re ready for their connected devices to do more – including acting as a commerce device – as is evident by the positive reception and uptake of Apple Pay” said Matt Barr, group head, U.S. Emerging Payments MasterCard. “Consumers want to be able to shop where they want, when they want and how they want – and they want to do so with the confidence that their money is safe and secure no matter how they choose to pay. Issuers are delivering on this by enabling their cards within emerging payment platforms like Apple Pay that deliver consumer choice.”

To help consumers use Apple Pay, MasterCard has developed the MasterCard Nearby app, available in the App Store, which helps you easily find merchants near your current location that accept contactless payments.