iOS 11--Apple Pay Cash popup in iMessages looks like phishing attempt

The captive dialogue pops up and blocks access to iMessages with the only option being "Continue". No obvious way to bypass, skip, or exit. Exiting iMessages and relaunching provides the same insidious popup, so I thought malware had invaded iMessages. After googling it, I found that Apple Pay Cash was a new feature of iOS 11, and perhaps legitimate. However, after seeing what the feature is, I don't need it nor want it, nor be forced to "Continue" to set it up.

I then went to Settings, selected Wallet and Apple Pay and turned off Apple Pay Cash. Even then the unwanted iMessages pop up blocked access to my messages, so I still had to select the dreaded "Continue" button, but just once. This caused the captive popup to flash once and thankfully disappear, hopefully forever.

So I seemed to have solved my immediate issue and hope this helps someone else, but my remaining question is when will Apple fix this invasive setup approach for Apple Pay Cash in iMessages? Where's at least the "Skip this step" option? Apple product managers should not assume that users want every feature...