Apple, Goldman Sachs Are Planning To Launch Buy Now, Pay Later Service

Apple is gearing to launch its own flexible payment service that will enable consumers to pay for any of their Apple Pay purchases over time.

The company is said to be in talks with Goldman Sachs, which will serve as the lender for the installment payment offering. The bank has already been supporting Apple’s credit card offering since 2019. The new offering, however, is not tied to Apple Card and would not require consumers to have access to one.

To access the Apple Pay Later service, users will be required to submit a copy of their local ID card and agree to a credit check, in addition to submitting an application form through iPhone’s mobile wallet app.

The service is being developed such that when consumers are making a purchase using Apple Pay, they will receive an option to either split the payment into four interest-free payments paid every two weeks or over several months with an interest rate. In addition, users will have the option to exit the payment plan by paying off their remaining balance. Apple Pay Later users will also be able to choose any credit card of their liking to make payments when making in-store and online purchases.

Certain Apple Pay later plans will exclude late fees and processing fees, requiring users to only pay for interest on long-term plans. According to Bloomberg, the company is separately also experimenting with a feature that will allow users to create temporary Apple Pay Later credit cards for individual purchases.

While Apple already offers monthly installment plans on its Apple Card, the launch of the service would help it expand the offering to all Apple Pay transactions. The Apple Pay Later service will likely play a key role in helping Apple further build its $50 billion-plus services business. Apple receives a small percentage of transactions every time consumers use the company’s mobile payment service to make a purchase.

The service will rival providers such as Affirm, Afterpay, Sezzle and PayPal, which are all highly popular among consumers today. However, it remains to be seen as to how much Apple will charge for interest rates; other players in the buy-now, pay later ( BNPL) space charge as much as 30 percent or less in APR, with Affirm charging the highest.

After the news broke, Affirm’s stock fell by as much as 13 percent, while PayPal’s stock declined by 1.4 percent.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on July 14, 2021.