Android Pay adds new banks on a fairly regular basis, sometimes one or a couple with great fanfare, and sometimes, such as this time, a staggering 51 new participating financial institutions get added to the service’s wheelhouse pretty much silently. The list of new banks includes the likes of Alabama State Employees Credit Union, Citizens National Bank of Cheboygan, Bank Rhode Island, and a number of other local elements. A similar move happened earlier in March, with 31 new banks bringing the grand total of supported financial institutions for Android Pay up above the 600 mark. At this point, as the service begins to spread throughout the world, most of the bigger banks are already on board and have been for some time, and small local banks and credit unions are being added to the fold pretty often.
The list of new banks this time around is pretty extensive and, as stated above, includes a large number of local and regional banks. Even the more niche financial institutions like the Houston Texas Fire Fighters Federal Credit Union, Capital Educators Federal Credit Union, and Roanoke Valley Community Credit Union are jumping on board now, so if your financial institution still doesn’t have support for Android Pay, it’s very likely that they will in the near future, though giving them a call to let them know they have customers interested in Android Pay couldn’t hurt.
Even with support for over 600 banks in the United States and a rollout in 10 countries thus far, there’s still plenty of room for Android Pay to grow. On top of that, even if Android Pay somehow managed to get every financial institution out there on board, retailers still have to begin accepting the mobile wallet solution on a far grander scale than they are right now in order for the dream of leaving your wallet at home to be feasible. Therefore, even if you see your bank on the list and most of your favorite places take Android Pay, it’s probably not a good idea to start leaving your debit card at home just yet. Android Pay is catching on, but still has a long way to go in order to catch up with its direct rival, Apple Pay, or even the ubiquitous Samsung Pay, able to be used almost anywhere debit and credit cards can be used.