Apple is sunsetting its no-fee, no-interest buy now, pay later program less than a year after making it generally available.
In a Tuesday statement to 9to5Mac and a Monday statement to CNBC, Apple announced that it has discontinued Apple Pay Later, a U.S.-only program that allowed users to apply for a loan from $50 to $1,000 directly from the Wallet app on their iPhones.
The program, which became widely available in the U.S. in October, gave borrowers the option to pay off the loan in four installments across six weeks, with no fees or interest.
Apple Pay Later is no longer available starting this week, according to Apple.
Related: ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ Increasingly Popular Among High Earners
In its place is a new personal finance option set to arrive later this year: installment loans offered through lenders, credit cards, and debit cards.
“The ability to access installments from credit and debit cards with Apple Pay will roll out starting in Australia with ANZ; in Spain with CaixaBank; in the U.K. with HSBC and Monzo; and in the U.S. with Citi, Synchrony, and issuers with Fiserv,” Apple stated in an update last week.
Apple added that U.S. users also have the option to apply for loans through Affirm, a third-party company, when they check out with Apple Pay.
Related: Buying Now to Pay Later? Credit Card Protections Now Apply
More than half of U.S. consumers recognize Affirm by name. Apple Pay Later logo on MacBook and iPhone screens. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Apple executives first pitched Apple Pay Later as a useful personal finance tool.
The draw was flexible payments; plus, applying for an Apple Pay Later loan also had no impact on credit scores.
“Apple Pay Later was designed with our users’ financial health in mind,” Jennifer Bailey, Apple vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, stated in March 2023.
Anyone who still has an active Apple Pay Later loan will be able to pay it off through the Apple Wallet app.
Apple Pay Later loans were backed by Apple and enabled through the Mastercard Installments program.
Related: Apple Launches Apple Card Savings Account From Goldman Sachs
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