Apple Pay Cash Delayed, Release Set For This Fall

Apple Pay Cash was one of the bigger advertised features in the run-up to Apple’s iOS 11 release and although the operating system update still drops Tuesday, the cash transfer service will be running slightly behind.

In a release, Apple confirmed that Pay Cash won’t be available at launch and will reach Apple users later this fall. Via the release:

Coming this fall with an update to iOS 11 and watchOS 4, Apple Pay users will be able to send and receive money from friends and family quickly, easily and securely. Pay and get paid right in Messages, or tell Siri to pay someone, using the credit and debit cards they have in Wallet. When users get paid, they receive the money in their new Apple Pay Cash card in Apple Wallet and can use the money instantly.

The feature works as Apple’s answer to instant payment services like Venmo. Within the Messages app, users can open the Pay app to send and receive money between fellow iOS users with credit or debit cards that are registered in their Apple Wallet. Users on iPhones, iPads or the Apple Watch will be able to use this money and can also transfer it to another bank account or keep it on their virtual Apple Pay Cash card in the Apple Pay app.

Pay Cash isn’t the biggest feature among iOS 11’s updates — other headlining additions include further augmented reality support and Siri updates — but the delay is still a hurdle for Apple and its larger ambitions for Pay. The hardware giant has long been tied to rumors about Apple Pay that have included launching a potential physical debit card, though the current Apple Pay Cash card will be a virtual card.

The update will also look to make Apple Pay a stronger option for users, as the service has been a modest driver to its parent company. Apple is among several companies who’ve launched payment services in the past few years — Samsung has its Samsung Pay service and Google shut down its Wallet in 2016 — but few have found significant traction among users. Fewer than 10 percent of consumers used a mobile payment service at least once per week according to Fortune, thanks to middling adoption rates from retailers and a lack of clear incentives to switch from physical cards.

Competitors like PayPal haven’t been phased much either — CEO Dan Schulman told The Telegraph in June that users don’t want “a different payment methodology” on each of their devices. But for Apple, it’s likely hoping that getting Apple Pay into Venmo’s space — where users are making frequent transactions for bills or smaller tasks — makes the service more popular among users.