Today's the day that the iOS 11.2 beta 2 update is being made available to public testers, and it's bringing with it a significant new feature.
Apple Pay Cash is launching in beta today alongside the iOS 11.2 beta 2 public test. To get it, you'll need to enroll in Apple's Beta Software Program and enable two-factor authentication on your Apple ID.
Once you've got all that, you can tap the Apple Pay button in your Messages apps to initiate a payment. You can also ask for money in a message or tap a message from someone else that asks for money.
Payments sent via Apple Pay Cash are made using your default card in Apple Pay. Payments made with a debit card will have no fees from Apple, while payments made with a credit card will be charged an "industry standard" fee.
When you receive money, you'll get a virtual Apple Pay Cash card that can be used to send money to other people using Apple Pay Cash or pay for other things using Apple Pay. You can also choose to transfer the money to your bank.
You'll need to be on iOS 11.2 beta 2 to try out Apple Pay Cash right now, but so long as everything goes smoothly in the beta, it's likely that Apple Pay Cash will be available to everyone when iOS 11.2 is released to the public.
There's no shortage of peer-to-peer payment options out there, including ones that are cross-platform. Still, Apple Pay Cash could be interesting when it launches to the public. Not only is this a new service coming from Apple, but iMessage is a huge platform, and so there will surely be some folks that give Apple Pay Cash a try because of its integration with iMessage.
