Apple Pay is certainly leaving an impression on the tech market. Not only has Apple Pay spread out and become an acceptable financial method at hundreds of banks and stores, but other companies are copying Apple's payment idea and implementing it as their own. Both Google and Samsung have announced their own versions of Apple Pay.
How big has Apple Pay really gotten?
Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some stats during the March 9 Apple Event that gave us a better idea about the state of Apple Pay.
There are now 2500 banks that support Apple Pay on the phone, Cook said. This means that most credit card users have direct access to Apple Pay Now. Cook also reported that Apple Pay would be accepted by over 700,000 U.S. locations; nearly triple the amount that was available at Apple Pay's launch in November. And this doesn't include nearly 40,000 new Apple-Pay compatible Coca-Cola vending machines.
Why is this relevant? Re/Code notes that the quick spread is "really just a reminder of how good Apple's timing was in launching this system."
Apple Pay arrived at a time when credit cards were required to add new chips, and retailers were required to add scanners that were compatible. Those scanners all contained NFC scanners, which are required for Apple Pay, Re/Code reported.
And Apple isn't done yet. On a surprising note, Apple didn't mention its plans to expand to the international market. Apple has already established contracts with U.K. and European banks.
