We’re still waiting on Apple Pay’s newest feature after IOS 11 update (AAPL)

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Although Apple first introduced its new Apple Pay peer-to-peer (P2P) payment feature during the debut of iOS 11 in June, the firstiterationof the update, released this week, doesn’t have the payment option, according to TechCrunch.

The new feature, which will allow users to send funds to friends and family via iMessage and Siri, will instead be a part of a future update to iOS 11 that is expected to launch this fall. For Apple, getting this new payment option in the hands of users as soon as possible should be a priority, or it could risk missing out on the returns of a major consumer payment trend.

• Mobile P2P payments are becoming a popular method for sending funds. US mobile P2P volume will reach $336 billion in 2021, worth 46% of total US P2P volume. That’s up from $19 billion, and 3%, in 2015. And as users increasingly find convenient ways to make these types of payments, mobile P2P volume will likely make up an even greater share, which Apple Pay could leverage.
• By leveraging one of the most popular chat apps in the world, Apple Pay should see more users adopt the payment option.Not only is iMessage available on more than 1 billion devices worldwide, but it’s also readily used; as of early 2016, over 17 billion messages were sent on the service daily. Giving consumers the added convenience of sending payments in a platform they already use daily could help spur Apple Pay adoption — only 34% of Apple users stated they had enrolled in Apple Pay, according to a First Annapolis survey.

However, there’s one potential issue that Apple Pay would have to contend with. With the introduction of Apple’s new flagship product, the iPhone X, Apple Pay users won’t have access to fingerprint authentication; they will instead have to use new facial recognition technology to biometrically authenticate their transactions. This may prove to be a pain point for potential users — according to a Juniper Research survey, 40% of iOS users in the US consider themselves unlikely to use facial recognition as a payment security technology. These users have instead become comfortable with fingerprint authentication — 74% of respondents said they are likely to use the technology. If this new security feature fails to gain any traction, Apple Pay may not see as many gains as expected.

Peer-to-peer payments, defined as informal payments made from one person to another, have long been a prominent feature of the payments industry. That’s because individuals transfer funds to each other on a regular basis, whether it’s to make a recurring payment, reimburse a friend, or split a dinner bill.

Over the next few years, though overall P2P spend will remain constant, a shift to mobile payments across the board and increased spending power from the digital-savvy younger generation will cause the mobile P2P industry to skyrocket.

That poses a problem for firms providing these services, though. Historically, most of these players have taken on mobile P2P at a loss because it’s a low-friction way to onboard users and won’t catch on unless it’s free, or largely free, to consumers. But as it becomes more popular and starts to eat into these firms’ traditional streams of revenue, finding ways to monetize is increasingly important.

Jaime Toplin, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile P2P payments that:

• Forecasts the growth of the P2P market, and what portion of that will come from mobile channels, through 2021.
• Explains the factors driving that growth and details why it will come from increased usage, not increased spend per user.
• Evaluates why mobile P2P isn’t profitable for companies, and details several cases of attempts to monetize.
• Assesses which of these strategies could be most successful, and what companies need to leverage to succeed in the space.
• Provides context from other markets to explain shifting trends.

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