Apple is working on a new money-transfer service that would allow iPhone owners to send money digitally to one another
According to a report from a source who spoke with Recode, Apple is working on launching a new money-transfer service that would allow iPhone owners to send “Apple Cash” to one another as an extension to the company’s existing mobile payment service, Apple Pay.
The service which would be targeted as a Venmo competitor would include a major partnership with Visa, according to the sources as Apple would need to obtain digital pre-paid cards that would run on Visa’s debit network but be tied directly into Apple’s peer-to-peer service, and could also be added into Apple Pay.
Apple is expected to not charge users of the new payments service, so the company’s only profits from the platform would come from those who opt-in to use the Apple/Visa debit card, which some banks would undoubtedly be concerned about and because of the potential upset caused to the banks it’s unknown how flexible and welcoming Visa will be.
Apple’s on-again, off-again flirtation with building its own money-transfer service appears to be back on. – The company has recently held discussions with payments industry partners about introducing its own Venmo competitor, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. The service would allow iPhone owners to send money digitally to other iPhone owners, these people said.
The source went on to say…
The potential of Apple getting its own debit card, however, is not sitting well with some bank executives, sources told Recode. Some plan to raise their concerns with Visa next week during an annual summit that the credit card company is hosting for its bank partners. – “Banks spent heavily in insuring their cards were top of wallet when they all built and rolled out Apple Pay,” said Cherian Abraham, a digital payments executive at Experian. “So it’s justifiable to be concerned that Apple will have its own card and could potentially be top of wallet. If you are top of wallet, you are top of mind.”