Sylvie Claire / June 7, 2022
In the U.S., starting this fall, approved users who use Apple Pay will be able to choose to pay for a purchase in four installments spread over six weeks, without interest or fees of any kind.
Apple Pay Later, the new feature, makes it easy to view, track and pay back, details the statement of the Californian group.
Its executives on Monday introduced a battery of new tools and improvements to its mobile operating system, iOS 16, which will be automatically installed on its smartphones in the fall.
The service will depend on the Mastercard network, but Apple did not specify which bank would be responsible for the credits. Bloomberg had mentioned Goldman Sachs last year.
The Apple brand has broadly diversified its services and revenue streams in recent years to entice users of its devices to stay in its ecosystem, from communication to entertainment to work to online shopping.
This time, it is entering a gap already well exploited by other companies such as Affirm (partner of Amazon and Stripe, in particular), Afterpay, Klarna or PayPal.
For its promoters, this method of financing is a less risky alternative to credit cards, which charge interest that is often complicated to understand and can quickly add up.
Grand View Research estimates the global buy now - pay later market at $5 billion in 2021, and predicts it will approach $40 billion by 2030.