The $62 billion Navy Federal Credit Union announced Monday its support for Apple Computer's new Apple Pay mobile retail payment system.
Apple Pay was introduced to the world Sept. 9 with the launch of the iPhone 6 and related devices. It is based on near-field communication technology built into the iPhone 6. It's estimated that tens of millions of Apple Pay-enabled devices have already been sold.
"We're excited to make this new service available to our members starting today," Randy Hopper, vice president of credit cards and business optimization at Navy Federal, said. "Our members live fast-paced and mobile lives. And, they have enthusiastically adopted our mobile banking solutions."
He added, "Now, with Apple Pay, they'll be able to save time when shopping while having a safe and easy payment experience."
The Vienna, Va.-based Navy Federal leads the way for many other credit unions that are preparing to deploy Apple Pay.
According to Visa, of the approximately 450 financial institutions that are currently preparing to offer Apple Pay through their Visa-branded cards, more than 300 are credit unions. MasterCard, on the other hand, appears to be focused on larger institutions.
For its part, Navy Federal has launched a video on its YouTube channel to demonstrate the ease with which Apple Pay can be set up and used.
Over the past two weeks, tensions have heated between supporters of Apple Pay and supporters of CurrentC, a QR code-based alternative being developed by a consortium of major retailers called MCX. According to Apple Pay proponents, safety is a key differentiator between the two technologies.
While Apple Pay offers an anonymous transaction that mimics, in terms of transaction flow, a standard card payment, CurrentC requires MCX to maintain bank account information on every user so that transactions can be settled via ACH.
Given last week's hack of MCX, this safety concern appears very real.
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