Apple has reportedly expanded an internal test of its forthcoming Apple Pay Cash technology to include its retail employees, which suggests that it may be ready for public release in the near future.
Apple began rolling out the feature to retail employees today, asking workers to install the latest iOS 11.1 beta and a special device certificate in order to enable the P2P function. Employees taking part in the internal evaluation are required to whitelist iCloud accounts in order to use the service.
Signs of the expanded Apple Pay Cash test emerged last week when select corporate staff were granted access to the upcoming feature.
Recent screenshots include setup screens, wherein users are asked to verify their identify by providing a full name, address, social security number and date of birth. According to Apple, the information will be verified using an unnamed identity verification service.
Apple Pay Cash was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June and serves as Apple’s branded peer-to-peer money transfer technology. The feature authorizes payments via Apple Pay and is integrated into the Messages app, allowing verified users send to payments to other Apple Pay account holders via a simple text interface. Received money is converted into an Apple Pay Cash card that can be used to pay for online or in-store Apple Pay purchases or transferred to a linked bank account.
Both iOS and watchOS devices support the feature.
Like other P2P systems, Apple’s version supports both credit and debit cards, though only debit-based transactions are free. Payments accomplished using a credit card incur an industry standard 3 percent fee.
Apple Pay Cash has yet to surface in either the public or developer beta versions of iOS 11.1, but is thought to be en route once beta testing of the feature is complete.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and MacRumors