Apple mulling a Venmo-like service: Report

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Apple Inc. may wish to launch a person-to-person money-transfer service to rival Venmo, according to a new report.

Apple has been in talks with payments industry operators about partnering for a service that would enable iPhone users to digitally send funds to other Apple devotees, Recode reports. The new service could launch as early as this year, but the timing details aren’t clear, the report says.

Apple has been long rumored to be interested in developing a P-to-P service of its own, which isn’t surprising given the company’s popularity among Millennials, who are prime users of PayPal’s popular Venmo mobile P-to-P service.

Yuya Shino/Bloomberg

PayPal on Wednesday said Venmo processed a record $6.8 billion during the first quarter, double the volume from the same period a year earlier.

According to Recode, Apple also has held talks with Visa about working together on a Visa prepaid debit card to fund P-to-P payments. The concept could enable users to spent money sent via prepaid cards immediately, instead of waiting for the transaction to settle with their bank account.