Consumer Reports Says Apple Pay Cash is the Best P2P Mobile Payments Service

Apple Pay Cash is the highest-rated mobile peer-to-peer payments service on the market, according to a review by Consumer Reports.

In the first comparison of its kind, the Consumer Reports publication looked at the relative pros and cons of Apple Pay Cash, Zelle, Square Cash, Venmo and Facebook Messenger P2P payments. Google Pay's new money-sending feature wasn't included in the group test, however.

faceidapplepaycash
The five services were rated worse or better in terms of payment authentication, data security, data privacy, customer support, and broad access (use not limited to those with a bank account or particular mobile device).

All five services were rated good enough to use, but Apple Pay Cash came out the winner with a higher overall score, mainly because of its stronger privacy and security measures.

Apple Pay was the only service that got top marks from CR for data privacy, because its policies state that it limits the information it collects and shares on users and their transactions. It doesn't store credit card or debit card numbers, and it states in the terms and conditions that it doesn't sell users' personal information to third parties, CR found.

The requirement of later-generation Apple hardware and software was classed as the only major drawback of Apple Pay Cash, as per the "broad access" category described above.
consumer reports p2p mobile payments test
Venmo, Facebook Messenger, and Square Cash all rated above average in most categories barring privacy. Zelle was downrated for poor clarity in its data policies, and failed to offer a way to confirm payments in its mobile app, although the company said the feature would be included by late October.

After a brief delay, Apple Pay Cash arrived on iOS devices in December 2017, although it's currently only available to users in the United States.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...

Top Rated Comments

Kabeyun Avatar
87 months ago
Data privacy got Apple top marks.

Why, in spite of my few Apple frustrations, I’m all in to their ecosystem. They’re privacy bulldogs, and that’s huge.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DNichter Avatar
87 months ago
Of course. Anyone who cares about privacy will use Apple services.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
87 months ago
Consumer reports saying something ‘positive’ about Apple an Apple Pay? That’s astonishing. Apple Pay is convenient enoughfor me where I don’t need my debit card all the time and is supported heavily in my area.
If you go look at CR articles about Apple products, you'll find them mostly positive. They just don't get reported on. Out of all the Apple products tested by CR over the years, how many do you think were negatively rated? Of those negatively rated, was there ever one that didn't have a legitimate issue?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
87 months ago
Consumer reports saying something ‘positive’ about Apple an Apple Pay? That’s astonishing. Apple Pay is convenient enoughfor me where I don’t need my debit card all the time and is supported heavily in my area.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Newton1600 Avatar
87 months ago
Consumer reports saying something ‘positive’ about Apple an Apple Pay? That’s astonishing.
Need Apple Pay Cash in Canada
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
87 months ago
And Samsung gave up security like a sophomore at Prom when they allowed Samsung Pay to work on old payment machines via the credit card slot. Clever idea, but less secure than a dedicated NFC connection. Apple often forgoes cleaver/flashy features in favor of security. They are incredibly disciplined for such a large company.
Aside from the security aspect, look how convenient they coupled Apple Pay with the Apple Watch and LTE. I don’t even need my iPhone with me to pay for expenses. Times have changed, and Apple made it better and more simplistic for the consumer. It’s just a matter if the user want to take advantage of this technology or not.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)