The news: Apple will let iPhone users split bills in Wallet and Messages by taking a photo of their receipts, per Bloomberg.

Users will be able to assign different line items to different people and issue payment requests within the app, per Bloomberg. Recipients will be able to approve payment requests through their Apple Watches. 

Apple will reportedly roll out the feature with iOS 27.

How we got here: Apple has parlayed its strong tech ecosystem into an increasingly robust financial services platform.

• Apple Pay launched in 2015.
• It launched the Apple Card in 2019; JPMorgan took over the $20 billion card program in January from Goldman Sachs.

Apple users are notoriously loyal to the brand, making any rollout issued in its ecosystem a threat to any provider with iOS users.

Why this matters: Adding bill sharing to its P2P services could dislodge volume from peers like Venmo and Cash App, for which friends and family payments are their bread and butter. 

Other planned features—like “Create a Pass” for tickets and gift cards, passport and digital ID integrations, and dynamic travel updates—reinforce users’ Apple Wallet loyalty, as one app becomes a central hub of iPhone users’ payments, travel, and leisure needs.

Implications for payment providers: 90.5 million people will use Apple Wallet this year, per our forecast. Many of them may also be dedicated Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle users who could be swayed into switching their P2P payments to Apple’s ecosystem.

Rolling out or increasing visibility of perks connected to common receipt splitting events like fine dining, roommate rent, and rideshare fares, like Bilt and Venmo’s tie-up for housing rewards, could defend against users defecting to Apple’s services.

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