The Apple Pay Later service is now rolling out to selected users in the United States. The Cupertino Big Tech announced Tuesday that it has begun sending out invitations to test the latest Apple Pay feature, following the footsteps of other digital wallet services to allow users to purchase items online in installments.
Apple Pay Later Service to Help Consumers Woes Over Ballooning Prices
As reported by ZDNET, the Apple Pay Later service allows customers to break their online purchases into four installments, to be paid within six weeks. The first installment is due at the time of purchase. Aside from the "buy now, pay later" setup, Apple Pay users can now submit a loan application to make in-app purchases using the Wallet app. The loanable amount ranges from $50 to $1000 with no interest charge.
As the public suffers from high inflation and economic turmoil, buy now, Apple's pay later scheme couldn't come at a better time. Before Apple Pay, other popular digital wallet services that have already started offering such feature are Affirm, Klarna and Afterpay.
However, some experts believe that the emergence of buy now, pay later services might be doing more harm than good for consumers. As per CNN, payment systems specialist Terri R. Bradford of the Kansas City Federal Reserve warned that the installment scheme to pay for goods and services does "practically nothing," as people are taking in more debts in the process.
"So the possibility is that you could, in your mind, think of everything that you're buying in those four installments and, as a result, take on more debt than you would if you had to pay for them in full each and every time," Bradford added. Apple, on the other hand, noted that the Pay Later feature is "designed with users' financial health in mind."
Related Article: Apple Pay Later is Being Tested by Apple Employees and May Launch Soon
How to Access the Apple Pay Later Feature
Apple Pay Later was first teased last June at the company's annual developer conference. At this point, Apple is still testing the service with more users being invited to try its current design. To test Pay Later, users must have iOS 16.4 or newer versions installed on their devices. It should be noted that the invitations to test the feature are given randomly. There is no way for users to request an invitation or early access to Apple Pay Later.
Once invited, the user will see an alert in the Wallet app, showing how to apply for the Pay Later service and get pre-approval for the first purchase. The user will be asked to confirm their personal details upon signing up, then Apple will perform soft credit verification to confirm that the user is in a good financial condition to qualify for a loan.
According to The Verge, Apple introducing the Pay Later service is the first time that the company is functioning as a financial institution by itself. In 2019, Apple entered a partnership with Goldman Sachs to launch a credit card. With its latest Pay Later program, Apple's listed subsidiary is Apple Financing LLC.
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