RIP Venmo - Apple Pay's New iMessage Payment System is Basically Going To Replace It
Fortune – Apple confirmed rumors swirling about its ambitions to create a Venmo-like payments service at its annual developer conference, WWDC.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of engineering, said on Monday that the new payments service, which is linked with Apple’s mobile wallet Apple Pay, will let users send money directly to their contacts using the technology giant’s popular messaging app, iMessage.
The service essentially replicates Venmo, the PayPal-owned payments app that has become enormously popular among a younger crowd to make small, cashless transfer, such as paying a friend for dinner, using a phone.
These payments are frequently referred to as peer-to-peer payments. Forrester Research estimates that the total peer-to-peer payments payments market will reach $17 billion in transaction volume by 2019.
Venmo has been seeing massive success with its growing service. In the first quarter of 2017, Venmo processed a record $6.8 billion in the first quarter, double the amount from the same period last year.
Federighi said on Monday that Apple Pay is the top contactless payment service on mobile devices nationwide, and by the end of year, Apple Pay will be available at 50% of retailers within the United States.
Pretty sad day as we say good bye to one of the greatest apps ever invented. I can’t imagine how myself or any other college kids get through school without Venmo. I mean whether it was simply chipping in for a guy getting a 30 rack at the store, going in for a quarter, or paying your bookie hundreds of dollars, Venmo was a part of your life one way or the other. The best part of Venmo was that money in your balance that people paid you was literally fake money. Someone’s going to the liquor store to get stuff for the night and you have $25 sitting in your account? Well, guess what? You’re drinking for free tonight.
When it first came to fruition, Venmo was super sketchy and seemed like it was a scam. Then slowly, but surely it became a way of life. Now if you don’t have it you’re basically an outcast.
The app made bookies’ lives so much easier too, since instead of driving all over town/city they simply sent u a request or paid you and boom you had your money. Venmo did a record $6.8 BILLION in payments in the first quarter of 2017 and I’d estimate about 80% of those transactions were illegal, and that might be a soft estimate. Looking at my monthly transaction history was a sight (and sweat) to say the least.
It made life so simple and I don’t know the man I’d be today without it. Everyone please take a moment of silence.
So now Apple is whipping out this new iMessage peer-to-peer payment system. It’s going to be available when IOS 11 gets released later this year and I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty legit. From what I understand you’re going to be able to iMessage people money straight from your bank account that’s linked up with your Apple Wallet. So Venmo will continue to exist, I guess, but only to Android users basically.
The issues with Venmo in the past have been cashing out your balance to your bank account instantaneously and paying businesses directly with it. You can’t be at a store and Venmo them for your purchases, but with Apple Pay you will be able to for what is now 50% of retailers.
The future is a scary place, but we’re moving into it faster and faster as new shit like this gets invented.