Will you use Apple Pay Cash?

Apple Pay Cash seems set to launch in new countries, following multiple reports of unexpected appearances of the Apple Pay Cash icon in existing Messages chats and inside Wallet in countries in which the service isn’t yet available.

Internationalization of cash-free currency

Apple Pay Cash launched in the U.S. in late December. It’s a peer-to-peer payment service you use to pay cash to individuals. You can’t yet use it to send money abroad, but international payment services must surely be on the product development road map.

Expectation of imminent launch has increased in recent days, with reports from Ireland, Spain, and Brazil claiming to have seen the service icon unexpectedly. This weekend the author witnessed a brief flash of Apple Pay Cash in an existing messages thread in the UK, though he neglected take an image of the moment.

Launching Apple Pay Cash internationally should spike use of the service. Loup Ventures recently published data claiming that 127 million active Apple Pay users exist globally, up from 62 million a year ago. The research claimed international audiences are making more use of Apple Pay than in the U.S. – just 5 percent of U.S. iPhones have Apple Pay activated, in comparison to 11 percent of international users.

The replacement of money

Apple recently claimed that the number of active users of the service doubled year-on-year, with Apple Pay transactions tripling. Speaking in February, Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey revealed the service is now accepted at half of U.S. retail outlets, calling it “the world’s most accepted contactless payment technology.”

Apple is putting a lot of energy into turning your iPhone into your wallet. In recent weeks it has (among other things):

• Launched a free delivery deal with InstaCart
• Added 48 new banks and credit unions will support Apple Pay
• Reached a deal with Danish payments firm, Clearhaus to bring Apple Pay support to over 5,000 more online stores in Europe.
• Announced the service will launch in Brazil “soon”.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, gave us the big picture of Apple’s ambitions around payments, telling us, “I’m hoping to be alive to see the elimination of money,” though he did admit that adoption of these services had been slower than he had personally anticipated a few years ago.

Do you use Apple Pay? Let us know.

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