Neil Hughes
Apple is said to be working on its own peer-to-peer money transfer service, potentially under the secure Apple Pay umbrella, allowing users to quickly and securely send money to one another, much like Venmo and Square Cash.
Apple has reportedly held discussions with the payment industry about the potential service, which could launch as soon as this year, according to Re/code. As with Venmo and others, the service would let iPhone owners transfer money digitally to others.
In addition, it was also said that Apple has held talks with Visa about a pre-paid debit card service tied to the peer-to-peer payment transfers. The talks could lead to an Apple-branded digital debit card that would also be capable of spending money at retailers — allowing users to spend money transferred to them instantly, without the need for the funds to settle in a bank account.
Rumors of an Apple P2P transfer service are not new, dating back to the launch of Apple Pay. Talks with banks date back years, but nothing has come to pass as of yet.
It is expected that Apple would lose money on such a service, as other products available do not turn a profit. Financial institutions view such services as an opportunity to establish relationships with millennials, who are less likely to have a bank account or credit cards.
If it does enter the market, Apple will face stiff competition. Apart from PayPal and its Venmo subsidiary, which control much of the mobile payment space, companies like Square and even Facebook have entered into the arena.
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13 Comments
It would be trivially easy for Apple to implementment a completely secure "digital cash" solution. It's just a matter of them developing the will to do it and committing resources.
This would be great and it's a service I would definitely use (assuming there are no fees). While my bank's electronic payment system is fine for payments to businesses and utilities, it sucks for personal payments, especially when the other person doesn't bank with my bank. It's definitely NOT like that TV commercial where the parents instantaneously send the baby sitter an extra tip, although it should be that easy. The devil is in the details though, although I'm sure Apple will get the UI right.
Not interested in a pre-paid debit card though, but that's just me.
Just in time (maybe) for my daughter going to college and needing a debit card.