What you need to know
- Apple announced its new Apple Pay Later service at WWDC 2022.
- The service allows users to spread the payments of a purchase over six weeks.
- Apple is handling the credit checks, decision-making, and lending for the service.
Apple is one step closer to a full-fledged checking account.
Apple Pay Later is sidestepping Goldman Sachs and being handled completely by...Apple.
At WWDC 2022, Apple revealed Apple Pay Later, a new Buy It Now, Pay It Later financing service. The new service will let Apple Pay customers finance a purchase with four payments over six weeks with zero fees or interest. The service will likely launch with iOS 16 this fall.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple has set up a new subsidiary called Apple Financing LLC that will handle all of the financing for Apple Pay Later. The new company will reportedly handle the credit checks, decision-making, and lending for the service.
A wholly owned subsidiary will oversee credit checks and make decisions on loans for the service, which is called Apple Pay Later. The business -- Apple Financing LLC -- has necessary state lending licenses to offer the feature, though it operates separately from the main Apple corporation, the company said in response to Bloomberg questions.
This marks a major departure from financial partners like Goldman Sachs that Apple has used historically and still does for services like its Apple Card credit card. However, Apple was unable to break completely from Goldman on its Apple Pay Later venture. The company still provides the Mastercard payment credential that Apple needs to offer the Buy It Now, Pay It Later service.
Apple has been working on a number of other financial services-related products that it is looking to run in-house, like a hardware-subscription program for not only the iPhone, but more of its hardware products.
At this rate, we're going to get an Apple Pay checking and savings account some day.