(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Apple is discontinuing its buy now, pay later service known as
Apple Pay Later barely a year after its initial launch in the U.S.,
and will rely on companies who already dominate the industry like
Affirm and Klarna, Azernews reports, citing the Star.
It's an acknowledgment from a company known for producing hit
products that building a financial services business from scratch
as Apple has been doing for several years is difficult and highly
competitive.
Apple Pay Later launched with fanfare in March 2023 as a way for
iPhone customers to split purchases of up to $1,000 into four equal
payments with no fees or interest. The service was Apple's answer
to the growing popularity of buy now, pay later services globally,
and considered a sizeable threat to companies like Klarna, Affirm,
and others.
But Apple Pay Later was only available where Apple Pay was
accepted whereas the other buy now, pay later companies had deeply
integrated themselves into millions of merchant websites.
In an acknowledgment of how popular buy now, pay later services
had become, Apple said at its developer's conference this month
that it would start allowing banks to offer buy now, pay later
plans to their customers through Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Affirm
would be integrated directly into Apple Wallet, and Apple customers
would be able to open an Affirm account directly.
“With the introduction of this new global installment loan
offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S.,”
Apple said late Monday.“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 executives as recently as this month had indicated that
the company still had plans for Apple Pay Later despite announcing
plans to integrate Affirm directly into Apple Wallet.
Apple Pay Later was unique because Apple needed to create its
own bank to offer the loans. The Apple Card is issued by Goldman
Sachs, which means Goldman ultimately decides who gets approved and
what spending limits are for each customer.
Apple has discontinued any new Apple Pay Later loans, but
customers who have existing Apple Pay Later loans will be able to
manage them inside Apple Pay.
MENAFN23062024000195011045ID1108362129
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.