Apple Cash lets you make person-to-person transactions through the Messages app. But if you try to tell someone How? ‘Or’ What to pay you without using the app, you may be wondering what your address is.
If you’re using the Cash app from Block (formerly Square) or Venmo, both apps emphasize a short code that identifies your account and a scannable QR code that you can display or send to someone. With Apple Cash, you might get a bit lost trying to find similar details if you don’t want to send a payment request in Messages.
As a reminder, here’s how to send an Apple Cash payment request:
- Open Messages in iOS or iPad.
- Start a new message to someone.
- Tap the apps icon to the left of the message field and select Pay Apple or tap the Apple Pay icon if it appears below this field.
- Enter an amount and press Request.
- The other party receives a message requesting payment of this amount.
Where can you see your Apple Cash address in this transaction if you try to tell someone else where to send you money? You can’t, because it’s any email address or phone number available for use with Messages. Apple doesn’t feel the need to expose superfluous details.
If you’re like me and have two Apple IDs for legacy or other reasons (one for Apple purchases and another for iCloud), you can check Messages preferences or settings to make sure you’re providing the correct information. :
- In iOS or iPadOS, go to Settings > posts > send receive. The addresses listed at the top as “You can receive iMessages and reply from” are those that can be used with Apple Cash. The first two should be your phone number (if you have an iPhone linked to your account with an active number) and your Apple ID address. The other addresses listed will also work.
- On macOS, go to Messages > Preferences > iMessage. There you will see the Apple ID at the top; you can give it. You can also use the addresses listed and checked under “You can be contacted for messages at”. (You can’t use Apple Cash from a Mac, but you can view addresses, transactions, and requests.)
Incidentally, if you search for this information in the Cash or Venmo app:
- In the Cash app, tap your account picture in the top right corner to see your ID (a dollar sign followed by some text). Tap the QR code symbol in the top left to reveal this code.
- In the Venmo app, tap the person/$ icon in the lower right corner to see your address (a
@
followed by a text). Tap its QR code symbol to reveal that code.
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