Digital Transactions
Apple Inc.’s latest financial product, a buy now, pay later service called Apple Pay Later, has yet to arrive, though the iPhone operating system it was expected to require launched Sept. 12.
Why is that? One Bloomberg columnist suggests Apple Pay Later, which was announced in June, may not arrive until 2023. His argument for that rests on Apple’s statement that other delayed features of the new iPhone operating system, iOS16, will be coming later this year, though the statement left out a timeframe for Apple Pay Later.
“This leads me to believe that the company isn’t completely certain when Apple Pay Later will be ready for launch,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, says in a post. “It’s possible the feature won’t arrive until iOS 16.4 in the spring. I’m hearing there have been fairly significant technical and engineering challenges in rolling out the service, leading to the delays.”
What’s really going on is anyone’s guess. Apple did not respond to a Digital Transactions News inquiry.
Apple Pay Later will work as do many other BNPL services, with purchases divided into four equal payments over six weeks, though Apple intends to self-finance its service. Apple Pay Later will use Mastercard Inc.’s installment infrastructure, enabling merchant acceptance with no integration requirements.