Why Apple Wants to Get Into the Unprofitable World of Payments Between Friends

Silicon Valley is obsessed with a particular part of the finance business that involves sending cash to friends using an app. That’s led to a flurry of options that often aren’t profitable because they charge little to no transaction fees. PayPal and its subsidiary, Venmo, are among the most popular, though they face a growing list of competitors, including Google, Facebook, and Square.

Apple plans to get in on the action, too. The world’s most valuable technology company has been talking with banks about introducing its own feature to Apple Pay that will allow users to send money to friends, a person familiar with the plans told Bloomberg last month. If Apple hopes to compete, it will also need to make its service free to use with debit cards, according to analysts.