“There were lots of obstacles. CO-OP did most of the work that allowed us to be among the first credit unions to offer Apple Pay to members,” Oram said.

He added with a laugh that, “Everybody thinks we are backwards in Idaho. We'll see how popular Apple Pay is with our members.”

Idaho Central has both credit and debit cards active in Apple Pay, according to Oram.

He acknowledged that he wished there were no new fees involved in Apple Pay but he is happy to pay them to be able to offer a new technology.

At Dupaco Community, Todd Link, vice president of remote services, said the institution is live in Apple Pay with Visa credit cards. It is working on getting its debit cards enrolled but that likely won't happen until well into the first quarter of 2015, he added.

Issues around tokenization, a core Apple Pay feature, are the hold up, Link said.

“Apple Pay is a huge milestone in the evolution of payments,” he noted. “Our members had been asking for it and we are delighted to be able to offer it. This is the beginning of the future.”

Link credited the Des Moines, Iowa-based card processor The Members Group for much of the work that got Dupaco Community live in Apple Pay.

“TMG was an outstanding service partner,” he said.

At Black Hills, Elaine Karsky, manager of the card services department, said the credit union's early entry into Apple Pay was a fluid and dynamic process.

“We pushed hard with Visa and First Data,” Karsky said. “It took a small village to ensure we were ready to go. We had to do a lot of work, getting our staff ready to handle member questions.”

Black Hills is currently live on Apply with its debit cards with hopes to get credit cards deployed in early 2015, according to the credit union.

“Here in South Dakota, we are out in the sticks. Apple Pay is a convenient way to pay, both on the phone and in-app [on new iPad Air 2s],” Carol Brown, vice president of marketing at Black Hills, said.

The credit union is undergoing a soft launch with Apple Pay that has not yet been announced to members. Employees with iPhone 6s have been encouraged to test out the payment tool at participating merchants and, Brown said, so far it is smooth sailing.

“This morning [when Black Hills went live] was a non-event. It just was there and it works,” she added.

Sources said Apple Pay now supports about 90% of credit card purchase volume in the U.S.

New Apple Pay retailers, according to statements from Apple, include national office supplies retailer Staples and Jacksonville, Fla.-based grocer Winn-Dixie.

Hundreds of additional credit unions are in an Apple Pay adoption queue although it is not yet known the schedule at which they will go live. Several sources have indicated that the hope was to get them deployed in the the first quarter of 2015.

Other credit unions that are already live in Apple Pay are the $62 billion Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va., the $6.3 billion America First Credit Union in Riverdale Utah, the $1.8 billion UW Credit Union in Madison, Wis., the $891 million L&N Federal Credit Union in Louisville, Ky., and the $548 million National Institutes of Health Credit Union in Rockville, Md.