Ahead of its much-hyped spring event that is expected to launch the companys smartwatch, Apple has announced that 17 new banks and credit unions have added support for Apple Pay, bringing the total number to 98.

The NFC-based mobile payment system can now be used with the Bank of Hawaii, Federal Credit Union, American Airlines Credit Union and IBM Southwest Employees Federal Credit Union, among others.

These institutions join the list of many better-known banks and credit unions, including American Express, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, CitiBank and Morgan Stanley.list of banks and financial institutions that will support Apple Pay

Mastercard and Visa have released lists of institutions that plan on adding support, which number in the two hundred. Because of the large number of regional banks in the US, it will still be a considerable time before every financial institution in America supports Apple Pay, but the companys mobile payment system has been embraced by most of the national brands, and many smaller chains.

While the growing number of banks and credit unions supporting Apple Pay will no doubt be celebrated by the company, it is still limited by the small number of retail brands who are equipped to accept NFC payments.