Apple Confirms P2P Payments Speculation, Plans Fall Launch with iOS Update

Apple will enable peer-to-peer payments for iOS users when it releases the latest version of its operating system this fall.

Speculation about a P2P money transfer service bubbled up earlier this spring after the company held meetings with partners in the payments industry, including discussions with Visa concerning the launch of prepaid debit cards for use with Apple Pay. Now, in announcing its iOS 11 update, Apple has revealed that users will be able to send money to each other directly through the Messages app, or by voice command through the Siri AI assistant. Money will be debited and credited accordingly from the cards users have stored in their Apple Wallet apps.

Further to that effort, Recode reports, Apple has partnered with Green Dot, a prepaid payment card company. That will presumably enable free P2P payments using debit cards, while transfers via credit card will be subject to the industry-standard three percent fee.

In a statement announcing its collaboration with Apple, Green Dot said it “expects an immaterial impact to its previously provided financial guidance for 2017,” suggesting Apple has little wealth to share from its pioneering mobile payments service. Nevertheless, it is clearly a project that Green Dot has deemed worthy of investment – as has Apple, given its expansion of payments functionality on iOS.

Sources: Apple, Recode, MacRumors