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Apple just got reinforcements in mobile payments battle

Apple Pay gobbling up more clients: Here's why
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Apple Pay gobbling up more clients: Here's why

Dozens more companies—including big banks, retailers and start-ups—have begun to adopt Apple's mobile payments platform, the tech giant told The New York Times on Tuesday.

SunTrust, Barclaycard, USAA, TD Bank and Commerce Bank are among the financial companies that have signed up for Apple Pay, the Times reported. Retail companies that accept the service now include Staples and chain grocers such as Winn-Dixie and Albertsons.

The dozens of new clients give Apple Pay some reinforcements in the mobile payments fight brewing between a collection of big companies such as Google, Verizon and AT&T. A consortium of retailers, including Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid and CVS, are also working on their own mobile payments platform.

Read More Wal-Mart and allies face off with Apple Pay over mobile payments

"Apple doesn't release actual numbers in terms of how many people are using the the Apple Pay service, but Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has said that about 1 million people had registered their card in the first 72 hours of being available but whether people are using it on a day-to-day basis remains to be seen," Dan Costa, editor-in-chief of PCMag.com, told CNBC.

According to the Times, Whole Foods said it had processed more than 150,000 Apple Pay transactions since adopting the service in October. McDonald's said that Apple Pay accounted for 50 percent of its tap-to-pay transactions in November, the newspaper reported.

"Retailers and payment companies see Apple Pay as the implementation that has the best chance at mass consumer adoption, which has eluded prior attempts," Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy, told the Times. "They believe it will solve many of the problems they had before with electronic payments."