Have you been taking advantage of Apple Pay Later? It seems you won’t be able to anymore. Apple discretely told 9to5Mac the news that its “buy now, pay later” feature will be phasing out starting today, June 17, 2024.
Apple Pay Later allowed users to get installment loans on purchases up to $1,000. These loans were issued directly by Apple. What made them interesting was that they required no hard inquiry on your credit report, only a soft pull. This means your credit score would not be affected by your credit application. Apple also charged no fees or interest, and the payments were divided into four equal installments throughout six weeks.
Of course, those with an active financing plan can continue managing it using the Apple Wallet app. However, after that, you will no longer be able to request another loan. That said, Apple still plans to offer “buy now, pay later” services this coming fall. It just won’t be taking the risk itself.
Here’s the statement Apple offered for this news:
Starting later this year, users across the globe will be able to access installment loans offered through credit and debit cards, as well as lenders, when checking out with Apple Pay. With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the US. Our focus continues to be on providing our users with access to easy, secure and private payment options with Apple Pay, and this solution will enable us to bring flexible payments to more users, in more places across the globe, in collaboration with Apple Pay enabled banks and lenders.
Many may worry that this change has potential downsides, such as possible interest charges, a possible lack of supported lenders, and more. That said, there are some benefits, too. Apple Pay Later was only available in the US, and the new installment options will be available in other markets. Here’s a list of the first ones to sign up as partners.
- Australia: ANZ
- Spain: CaixaBank
- UK: HSBC and Monzo
- US: Citi, Synchrony, Fiserv, and Affirm
We wonder if this is something that will push Google to improve its “buy now, pay later” services eventually. Not many of you may know, as the service isn’t very popular, but Google Pay has a similar feature. While expanding, the number of merchants supporting it is still limited, but you can get financing through Affirm and Zip through Google Pay. This one is also only available in the US. Maybe after opening up to Apple, support can also come to Android users in other markets, currencies, and hopefully more merchants.
Discussion about this post