In June 2023, during its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced a new feature as part of its Apple Pay financial service called Apple Pay Later. It was the latest service that allowed consumers to pay for products in several installments with no interest or fees. The plan was to add Apple Pay Plan as part of the IOS 16 launch in the fall of 2022. However, that didn"t happen, and unconfirmed rumors at the time said the company was dealing with major technical issues with adding the feature.
In March 2023, Apple Pay Later was made available as a “prerelease version” for some iOS users in the US. It finally and officially launched widely in the US in October 2023. However, today Apple confirmed, one week after the 2024 WWDC, that Apple Pay Later"s days are over.
In a statement sent to 9to5Mac from an Apple spokesperson, it revealed that a new plan for offering iOS owners loan payments from credit and debit card companies, along with other money lenders, is coming to Apple Pay sometime later in 2024. The statement added:
With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S. Our focus continues to be on providing our users with access to easy, secure and private payment options with Apple Pay, and this solution will enable us to bring flexible payments to more users, in more places across the globe, in collaboration with Apple Pay enabled banks and lenders.
In addition, 9to5Mac reports that any iOS owner who still has to pay off their Apple Pay Later agreements can continue to do so via the Apple Wallet app.
While Apple Pay Later never expanded beyond the US, the new loan payment systems that are coming later this year will be available in a number of different countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, and Spain.