How to Use Apple Pay Cash and Avoid the 3% Transaction Fee
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On Monday we reported that while Apple officially released its iOS 11.2 software update boasting support for Apple Pay Cash, the service appeared to be down for some users shortly after it went live.
As of Tuesday morning, however, several of us here at iDrop News have been able to successfully set up and begin using the iOS exclusive peer-to-peer mobile payments protocol. Below you’ll find a guide on how to set up and begin using Apple Pay Cash to quickly and easily send money to friends and family via iMessage on your iPhone or iPad.
Note: in order to successfully send Apple Pay Cash payments, both the sender and recipient must be registered for Apple Pay Cash, according to the setup process below.
How to Set up Apple Pay Cash
First, ensure you’ve upgraded your device to the latest version of iOS 11.2.
From the iOS home screen, head to Settings, scroll down and tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
Select the first ‘Apple Pay Cash’ card option from the list, and toggle it on.
Click Set Up Now, and then proceed to follow the onscreen prompts as directed.
You’ll then be presented with a menu of options for adding cash to your card, which can be transferred from eligible bank accounts, credit or debit cards.
Select Add Money from the menu of options, and you’ll be presented with a keypad to enter the amount, and a confirmation screen. iPhone X users will authenticate a transfer to their Apple Pay Cash card via Face ID, instead of Touch ID.
How to Use Apple Pay Cash
With money transferred to your Apple Pay Cash card, you can now start sending payments via iMessage. To get started, head to Messages from the iOS home screen.
Open or initiate a new conversation with whomever you’d like to send payment to, and then select the ‘A’ application drawer icon located between camera and the text entry box in the chat.
From the app drawer, select the Apple Pay icon and then proceed to increase or decrease the payment amount using the +/- buttons or, select Show Keypad to manually enter the amount you’d like to send. The amount will then show up as a link in the iMessage itself, which can then be sent just like a normal text.
Apple Pay Cash provides multiple options for funding your balance, the company also charges an industry standard processing fee of 3% per transaction. However, prior to sending each Apple Pay Cash payment, you’ll also be given the option to decide how you’d like to fund it — and Apple is surprisingly clear, that if you send money using an eligible debit card as the funding source, you’ll be able to completely avoid the transaction fee.
