It’s like we fell asleep and woke up in 2015: Once again, the rumor mill is whirring along with claims that Apple is working on a Venmo-like peer-to-peer service that would allow people to transfer money to each other with the click of a button.
According to Recode, Apple has had some chats with potential partners in the payments industry about a service that lets iPhone users send money to other iPhone users.
Inside sources told the tech site that Apple is also talking to Visa about offering a debit card — possibly in digital form only – that would be tied to the new peer-to-peer system. The Apple cards would be funded with money sent through the new service, and could be used to make purchases even before the money hits your bank account.
Users could also tie the digital debit card to their Apple Pay digital wallet to buy things at physical stores.
Whether or not this will all actually happen is unclear, as one person familiar with the matter told Recode that the platform could launch later this year, while another said the announcement and launch date may not be set yet.
Apple and Visa declined to comment to Recode.
It’s worth noting as well that a few months after reports first started popping up about an Apple peer-to-peer payment service, the company filed a patent application that would allow iMessage users to pay each other from within the messaging app itself, as well as from within other iOS features.
If Apple does manage to succeed in getting something off the crowd, it will have plenty of competitors in the peer-to-peer payment arena: There’s PayPal’s Venmo, Square Cash, and many major banks, not to mention Facebook.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist