Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Apple’s upcoming iOS software update will allow iMessage users to send and receive payments directly through the messaging app when iOS 11 is made available for download this fall, Senior VP of software Craig Federighi revealed at today’s WWDC conference in San Jose, California.The feature will run off the company’s existing Apple Pay technology, verifying payments with fingerprint authentication. In addition to working with devices running iOS 11, the new service will be compatible with the Apple Watch. According to Federighi, payments will be stored in an “Apple Pay cash card,” and you’ll be able to make your payments with any debit or credit card you’ve linked to Apple Pay. Similar to established payment services such as Venmo, users will be able to transfer cash card balances to a linked bank account.Image courtesy of Apple.Apple is hardly the first company to add person-to-person payments to its messaging app — Facebook Messenger and Snapchat have offered similar services for at least two years. Plus, this service will only work if both parties involved have a device that’s running iOS 11, which isn’t a requirement of competing payment platforms.
