Apple is taking on Venmo and Square Cash with peer-to-peer payments.
At WWDC, Apple's developer conference, Monday, Apple (AAPL) said Apple Pay is coming to Messages in iOS 11. Soon, you'll be able to send fellow Apple users money through an app that's integrated into iMessage, the default messaging app on Apple's mobile devices.
People already use Apple Pay for transactions on the App Store and at retail stores that accept the mobile payment feature.
Messages already supports some third-party apps, which is where Apple Pay will be located. You can send money from the debit or credit card stored in Apple Wallet, and it will be deposited into the recipient's Apple Pay Cash account, which is a new digital debit card.
Like with Venmo, you can transfer the money to your bank, or just store it in your Apple Pay Cash account for future Apple Pay purchases.
According to senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi, Apple Pay is the number one contactless payment service on mobile, and by the end of 2017, Apple Pay will be available at more than 50% of retailers in the U.S.
iOS 11 will be available later this year.
