Apple announced in a statement to 9to5Mac on Monday that it is discontinuing its relatively new Apple Pay Later service, which is shocking as it hasn't been available for a year.
The company introduced Apple Pay Later to the world back in March 2023, created with "users' financial health in mind." The service offered loans anywhere from $50 to $1,000 that were paid with four payments over the course of six weeks. The service came with no interest and no fees, which made it a convenient and easy prospect when checking out a purchase.
Apple Pay Later was made publicly available to all users in October 2023, but after eight months, the service was shut down as of Monday, according to Apple's support website.
While this may sound worrying, you don't need to fear: Users who have loans in progress will be able to continue paying those loans through Apple Wallet as they could before. The only difference now is that no new loans can be made.
However, WWDC 2024 brought many new announcements, and something coming through Apple Wallet could be a worthy substitution for Apple Pay Later.
How Apple Wallet will fulfill Pay Later's legacy
As revealed during WWDC 2024, Apple Wallet will let users access third-party loan offerings from "eligible" credit or debit cards or through Affirm if they're in the United States. These features are coming to Apple Wallet this fall.
As any company is keen to do after shutting down a convenient service, Apple's statement to 9to5Mac mentions what the company is doing with Apple Wallet to compensate for the removal of Apple Pay Later:
"With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S."
Here are the eligible banks that are compatible with Apple Wallet loans:
- United States: Citi, Synchrony, Fiserv
- United Kingdom: HSBC, Monzo
- Australia: ANZ
- Spain: CaixaBank
While this is what's available now, more could be introduced into Apple Wallet in the future.
Although the inclusion of these features will be convenient for many, Apple Wallet's new compatibility with loans from third-party bankers cannot fill the gap that Apple Pay Later left with its removal. Apple Pay Later offered zero interest and zero fees, was available directly through Apple Wallet, and was backed by Apple itself.
There's heightened convenience to being able to purchase something in smaller installments through Apple Wallet. While it was only available to those in the United States, those who used it will feel its absence, and its sudden removal likely signals Apple pulling away from that type of finance.
Does this signal Apple shying away from finance?
Apple Pay Later was a bold move from Apple, revealing that it would be occupying a space it hadn't before. Offering its own financial loan service was unprecedented and signaled a potential new avenue for the company to expand its reach, but its discontinuation only after eight months gives the opposite impression.
Not only is it discontinued, but Apple Wallet is going all-in on third-party inclusion and bringing it to more than just the United States. It's uncertain if we'll see the company return to its own in-house financial services after such a quick pullaway, but we cannot imagine that it'll happen anytime soon.
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