AppleInsider Staff
Apple this week updated its Apple Cash product to include Instant Transfer support for Mastercard debit cards, while an upcoming change will increase transfer fees to 1.5% of the transfer amount.
Announced in an email to Apple Pay users on Thursday, the update delivers immediate Instant Transfer integration for Mastercard debit cards. The feature, which allows users to instantly transfer funds from an Apple Cash card to a debit card, was previously restricted to Visa's network.
As stated in an updated Apple Support document, Instant Transfers currently carry a 1% fee, with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $10. That is set to change on Aug. 26, when rates will rise to 1.5% of the transfer amount, with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $15.
Apple notes that users can avoid fees by transferring money to a bank account using ACH. That process typically takes between one to three business days.
Apple partners with Green Dot Bank to facilitate the sending and receiving money with Apple Pay and the Apple Cash card.
Apple Cash, previously known as Apple Pay Cash, is Apple's person-to-person digital payments solution. The system is similar to a digital debit card in that it allows users to send funds through Messages and Siri. It also acts as a repository for Apple Card's Daily Cash cash-back rewards and funds can be used to make payments on an Apple Card balance.
Last year, the company expanded the Apple Cash product with Apple Cash Family, a subsystem that lets parents send money to children in their Family Sharing group. Kids can use the funds for purchases or sending money to other people via Messages. Parents have options to monitor and control transactions or lock a child's account.
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10 Comments
I guess I just assumed it worked for MC and Visa this whole time. Sucks that the rates have gone up for those that need this, but I guess some option is better than no option if you want to get MC on-board.
Whomever they use for ACH is the fastest I've ever seen. If you do in the morning it's transferred by the afternoon, and if you do it at night it's there by the morning.
Apple's cash reward availability is quicker and the ability to use the reward is easier than any other credit card I've owned. On that Apple did great.. And the 2% as an across board base reward is top of the mark except speciality cards. The specialty cards can beat that sometimes by 2 or 4 percent. But those cards rarely pay more than 1% for the non specialty purchases.
Hopefully not many need to transfer the reward cash and then can't wait the ACH completion of 24 to 48 hours. More efficient to, IMHO, to use the reward as an Apple purchase with the corresponding cash in your checking/savings account staying in your account.