Apple is marking a retreat from efforts to offer more financial services in-house. The technology giant says it will now offer customers payment plans through third-party credit and debit card lenders.
The company said Monday that it’s no longer offering loans for Apple Pay Later, which allowed users to pay off purchases of as much as $1,000 over four installments. People who have existing Apple Pay Later loans will be able to continue to pay them off and manage them through the Wallet app.
Apple announced plans to end the feature in a statement provided to 9to5Mac, which also notes that customers will be able to access installment loans through their credit and debit cards with changes coming to Apple Pay this fall.
„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 U.S. 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.„
Apple Pay Later officially launched in October and only in the United States, but it had been available in a testing capacity since March 2023. Available in the Wallet app, Apple Pay later allowed customers to split a purchase made with Apple Pay into four equal payments over a six week period, with no interest or fees. Apple Pay Later was available on purchases made on an iOS device using Apple Pay, and was limited to merchandise priced between $75 and $1,000. Each purchase required a separate loan application and approval.
Apple did not provide insight into why it is discontinuing Apple Pay Later, but it is working to unravel its partnership with Goldman Sachs, the company that handles the Apple Card, the Apple Savings account, and Apple Pay Later. Nixing Apple Pay Later means that Apple does not need to worry about replacing that functionality with a future partner.
During its annual developer event last week, Apple announced that it would be partnering with banks , including Citi in the US, HSBC in the UK and ANZ in Australia, to offer instalment payment options, according to BBC. The new payment options will be made available on its upcoming iOS 18 operating system, which is expected to be released later this year.
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