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Apple Working on Mobile Person-to-Person Payment Service

Wednesday November 11, 2015 11:46 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is in talks with U.S. banks over a potential person-to-person mobile payments service, reports The Wall Street Journal. Such a service would perhaps be positioned as an expansion to Apple Pay, and it would allow people to send each other payments, much like PayPal's Venmo or Square's Square Cash service.

apple pay wwdc 2015
Little is known about the talks at this early date, but The Wall Street Journal says communication between Apple and the banks is ongoing and it's not known if Apple has inked any concrete deals. Apple is said to be speaking to Chase, Capital One, Wells Fargo, and U.S. Bank, but key details "remain in flux" and the technical details still need to be worked out.
It isn't clear how Apple intends to make money from the service. Indeed, the company may view a person-to-person offering mostly as a way to get more consumers to convert to its phones.

Under the current discussions, Apple wouldn’t charge the banks for participating in its person-to-person payment service, said the person familiar with the talks. That is different from Apple Pay in which the banks pay Apple for each transaction
Person-to-person services like Venmo and Square Cash are used for personal payments and are useful for things like paying back a friend who bought dinner or splitting a rent payment. With Apple's system, iPhone and iPad owners could perhaps use Apple Pay to send secure payments to one another from a checking account.

A launch date for the service is unclear as of yet, but Apple may be targeting a 2016 debut.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: wsj.com
[ 154 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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igorsky
34 months ago

If both parties need iOS devices, this idea is DOA.


You're right...it's so hard to find other people with iOS devices.
Rating: 25 Votes
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Patriot24
34 months ago
This was always the obvious next step. Square is in trouble.
Rating: 15 Votes
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macnewbie91
34 months ago
I think it's great that Apple dropped Paypal credit from their accepted payment methods, for what it looks like to come up with their own service.

Paypal is outdated.

-They don't have chipped cards.
-They take a slice of the pie for each transaction.
-They charge high interest rates.
-They take 3-5 days to simply transfer money from one bank to the other.

I didn't realize it was 1993 still.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
thewebb
34 months ago

i love how Apple copied Google Wallet.

I love how Apple did it it way better that Google had to redo theirs and rename it Android Pay.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Glassed Silver
34 months ago

Indeed, the company may view a person-to-person offering mostly as a way to get more consumers to convert to its phones.


If both parties need iOS devices, this idea is DOA.

Glassed Silver:mac
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
2457282
34 months ago
Currently my exclusive use of Paypal is to send my daughter money to help her out. If I could do this through another means it would be better. Paypal take several days to deposit the money into her account. If apple does this in a way that the deposit would be quicker, it would eliminate my need to Paypal altogether.
Rating: 7 Votes
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Nicksd84
34 months ago

If both parties need iOS devices, this idea is DOA.

Glassed Silver:mac

Nuh uh. Us Apple people spend all the monies!
Rating: 7 Votes
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Piggie
34 months ago
Excellent idea as long as it's free.

I don't wish to buy your 2nd hand monitor from you for say $300 and have to pay Apple $10 for the privilege
Rating: 7 Votes
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St0rMl0rD
34 months ago
This will be huge
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
danny_w
34 months ago

Wrong. I only associate with smart people so they have iPhones. All family members have iPhones as well.

Dumbest. Post. Ever.
Rating: 6 Votes

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