Apple rolls its own Venmo

Venmo, the money-sending app owned by PayPal, is so popular with millennials that it’s become a common verb – Venmo me that $5, dude. But now it has some deeppocketed rivals as well.

Big banks have individual money-zipping apps. An app backed by a consortium of major financial institutions, called Zelle, just launched. It’s initially inside banks’ own apps; a standalone app comes later this year. Now Apple will also help you send money to friends, family, landlords, etc.

It’s already possible to pay established retailers – think Walgreens, Macy’s, Dunkin Donuts, even Apple itself – by holding up an iPhone or Apple Watch to a register, or by tapping a fingerprint sensor or clicking the watch’s side button while shopping online.

But starting this fall, you’ll also be able to send friends money via text, so long as you both have iPhones or other Apple gadgets. Apple will pull that money from a debit or credit card, or use stored money others have paid you. You can use accumulated cash for shopping, too.

Venmo isn’t limited to Apple gadgets, though it only works in the U.S. But if you’re an iPhone user in the U.S. (and all your friends are, too), Apple’s system could be convenient.