Just a couple of months after its initial launch, Apple Pay Later is being discontinued, as company executives decided.
Apple recently announced that its payment service, Apple Pay Later, will shut down immediately. This service started in October 2023 and lets people pay for their purchases over time without any extra fees or interest. Although it was quite popular, Apple has decided to stop it and focus on adding new payment options to Apple Pay.
Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world and they were “the biggest” for a while before Microsoft merged with OpenAI. On top of being a successful technology firm, Apple’s efforts to spread this dominance to other sectors, like banking, worked pretty good at first, especially with Apple Pay. Then the company started rolling out different features and collaborations with banks. According to the latest announcement, Apple Pay Later has not been very successful; hence, it is shutting down.
Apple Pay Later will no longer be available
Apple has stopped offering Apple Pay Later, a service that made it easy for users to split their purchases’ payments into smaller parts without paying extra. Customers who are still paying off purchases can keep track of their payments through the Apple Wallet app. This change is part of Apple’s plan to improve Apple Pay by adding more features that will work worldwide.
The end of Apple Pay Later comes as Apple prepares to launch new features with iOS 18. These will allow users to get loans for purchases directly from their credit and debit cards and through other companies like Affirm.
Apple made an official announcement
Apple officially stated that later this year, it will start a new service for installment loans worldwide. This will let users take loans at the checkout point when they use Apple Pay. This is possible thanks to partnerships with various banks and lenders. Apple remains focused on providing safe and easy payment options through Apple Pay. This will help bring more flexible payment methods to people everywhere.
Here is the full announcement thanks to the folks at 9To5Mac:
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 is aiming to make Apple Pay more useful by adding the ability to work with more types of financial services and reaching more customers globally.
What is Apple Pay Later?
Apple Pay Later was created to help users manage their money better. It allowed them to split their purchases into four equal payments over six weeks without paying any interest or fees. This service was only available in the United States and was used for online purchases and in apps that accept Apple Pay.
Even though Apple Pay Later was short-lived, it helped many people by making buying things more manageable. Apple included this service in the Apple Wallet app, making it easy for users to keep an eye on their payments and balances safely.
Featured image credit: Apple
