Apple's iMessage has integrated with blockchain payments firm Circle to allow users send online payments through the popular texting platform.
iMessage Features Online Payments
According to Forbes, with the arrival of iOS 1o, global peer-to-peer payments in U.S. dollars, pound sterling, euro and Bitcoin are available through Circle integrated on iMessage texting service. An iMessage version of Circle has been announced last week.
The social payments provider Circle is taking advantage of the large audience of Apple's most popular app. It is estimated that iMessage processes around 200,000 messages a second.
How Circle And Apple Came Together
According to Coindesk, Circle executives explained that the company began preparations for the launch of Circle payment services back in June, right after high-tech giant Apple announced opening up of its iMessage application to third-party developers. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in an interview that the company decided to take advantage of the opportunity and it had been planning to design a model for app-less payments using Circle functional in all the places users interact and communicate.
The confirmation of iMessage's global online payments feature came just days after Asia-based media reports and social media leaks suggested that Circle is preparing to make an official announcement. Circle co-founder Sean Neville and Allaire stated that indicated that making payments available on iMessage would help the company making the transition to becoming a payment platform able to compete against more established payment apps.
As a result of Circle's integration with iMessage, new icons built into iMessage will give access to Circle users who have installed the application. Those users who did not install Circle yet will get access to the option to tap in order to receive money.
On the Circle platform, the payments are instant, according to Neville. However, it is also possible to receive the money in a bank account, but in this case consumers will have to wait for the money transfer clearance.
