Apple Pay is a testament to the region-locked world we live in

Today marks a big day for Apple Pay — it’s adding 33 new US banks to its portfolio.

You can find the new banks on the support page for the payment product. However, it also painfully marks one of the problems it has had since its inception.

Back in October 2014, coinciding with the launch of the iPhone 6, Apple Pay was touted as a revolutionary new way to pay for things in retail stores. Now, 22 months later, it’s still only available in a few select countries.

Of course, it makes sense for Apple to start in the US, as that’s where its biggest userbase is. But two years after the launch, it should be available in more than nine countries.

Granted, some of these like China and the UK are among the biggest markets. But a lot of big countries like Germany, Brazil and India are still put to the side — even though every iPhone sold worldwide since 2014 has been shipping with an NFC chip inside that can only be used for Apple Pay.

Japan and Russia will follow with support later in the year, so it’s hoping the coverage will be accelerating and we can look forward to a future that’s less bound by region-locked features.