According to the introduction, users can apply for an Apple Pay Later loan of $50 to $1,000 (Currently about RMB 345 to 6,890) to make online purchases and in-app purchases on their iPhone and iPad from merchants that accept Apple Pay. With their financial situation in mind, users can view, manage and repay their Apple Pay Later loan in their Wallet.

Starting today, Apple will begin inviting select users to access a pre-release version of Apple Pay Later, with plans to make the service available to all eligible users in the coming months.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to how people manage their finances. Many people are looking for flexible ways to pay, which is why we’re excited to offer Apple Pay Later to our customers,” said Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet at Apple.

Apple Pay Later is designed with our users’ finances in mind, so it has no fees or interest, can be used and managed within Apple Wallet, and makes it easier for consumers to make informed and responsible borrowing decisions.”

Notably, Apple Pay Later is supported through the MasterCard Mastercard Installments program, and Goldman Sachs is the issuer of the MasterCard payment credentials used to complete Apple Pay Later purchases.

Beginning today, Apple will randomly invite users to get a sneak peek at Apple Pay Later via Wallet and Apple ID email. Apple Pay Later is currently available for online and in-app purchases on iPhone and iPad in the U.S. only, and Apple Pay Later is only available on iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 and above.

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The tech giant has announced at least two new features over the past eight months: a “buy now, pay later” service and a savings account tied to its wallet app. The former, called Apple Pay Later, was announced in June last year and was originally planned to be released in September last year. The latter was announced in October last year, with an official launch planned for a few weeks later.

In addition, there are two financial projects that have not yet been officially announced. One is an iPhone hardware subscription project, and the other is an extension of the Pay Later project called “Apple Pay Monthly Installment”-the latter can handle larger and longer installments, but charges a certain amount of interest.

Apple is continuing to push these services forward, but it’s clear that financial services are harder to develop than they thought. Industry insiders believe that the delays in these four projects are mainly due to engineering challenges and the support systems required for the next generation of financial systems.

Creating this underlying platform is one of the most ambitious parts of Apple’s financial project. It was previously reported that Apple has deployed a project called “Project Breakout” to this end, hoping to develop its own technology to handle interest calculations, rewards, credit checks, approvals and transaction history – all of which are currently handled by partners.

But recently there have been some dawns. After months of delays, the company is preparing to release the first version of Apple Pay Later to consumers. They began testing the feature with corporate employees a few weeks ago and began testing it with retail employees earlier this month. According to this calculation, Apple’s testers have reached tens of thousands.

In a memo sent to retail employees, Apple said employees participating in beta testing were not allowed to take screenshots or confirm the feature’s existence. Not only that, it is not even allowed to talk about it with anyone inside or outside. “Participation in the testing of this feature is subject to a non-disclosure agreement agreed to when signing an employment agreement with Apple,” the company said.

Apple adopted a similar testing process for the Apple Card in 2019, testing it with retail employees a month before its official release.

Pay Later’s testing does not include Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Wisconsin. Apple’s flagship store in Towson, Maryland, which is unionized, was also not eligible for the test, it is reported. The company stopped issuing the latest benefits to the store employees last year, which caused dissatisfaction.

Apple also notified retail employees that Pay Later loans to require a soft credit check that doesn’t impact credit scores, the same as other “buy now, pay later” services.

Given that retail beta testing just started last week, expect the feature to be officially released in March or April. The service is not tied to releases such as iOS 16.4, but it can be obtained directly through the upgrade of the iOS 16.3 system.

Industry insiders believe that Apple hopes to observe the performance of Pay later through testing, and then make it available to more people, so as to meet greater transaction volume. The service will be provided through an internal lending subsidiary.

There are also savings accounts. When Apple announced the feature last October, they said the service would be available “in the coming months.”

At the time, everything seemed to be going well: Apple quickly added the underlying code to support the feature in iOS 16.1 and partnered with Goldman Sachs to release detailed instructions for the service in December. But since then, Apple and Goldman Sachs have kept quiet about it.

As for the iPhone subscription service, the original plan was to launch in 2002 or 2023. Industry insiders had previously expected that the service might be released alongside last year’s iPhone 14, but it didn’t end up being unveiled. But Apple may still be developing the service, and as long as it makes it easier for users to use increasingly expensive iPhones, it makes a lot of sense for Apple.

Progress on the last important piece of the puzzle on Apple’s financial strategy map has been extremely slow: the international expansion of Apple Card. The card was released in March 2019, but three years later, it’s still only available in the US.

Fortunately, progress in other areas is relatively smooth. Apple’s digital driver’s license is rolling out, albeit a bit slowly. Apple Pay is also already available in many international markets (the service will soon be available in South Korea). Apple also recently added support for tap and pay for small businesses.

It’s not hard to see that Apple still wants to play a bigger role in consumers’ financial lives, but it may take a long time to achieve this ambitious goal.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned the upcoming launch of Apple Pay Later last week during the company’s earnings release when Cook said the feature was being tested among certain Apple employees. Today’s report from Bloomberg indicates that the test has been significantly expanded.

According to the report, Apple reached out to its retail employees this week to offer them a beta version of the service ahead of its public launch. “Apple has about 270 stores in the U.S. and more than 80,000 employees nationwide, allowing the company to quickly test the feature among a large number of employees,” Bloomberg explained.

Apple Pay Later is a new financial service from Apple that allows U.S. iPhone and Mac users to split payments into four installments over a six-week period without paying additional interest or fees.

Today’s Bloomberg report also includes another tidbit of information about Apple’s ambitions in the “buy now, pay later” space. According to the report, Apple is also developing a version of Apple Pay Later called “Apple Pay Monthly Installments.

As the name implies, this will allow users to split larger purchases into equal payments over a longer period of time. Unlike the short-term Apple Pay Later installments, however, this payment plan will incur interest charges.

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Cook said Apple employees are testing the Apple Pay Later feature, which will help Apple boost revenue from the service. “It will launch soon,” Cook said.

Apple first announced Apple Pay Later at its Worldwide Developers Conference last June, which offers a “buy now, pay later” feature that allows U.S. iPhone and Mac users to split payments into four installments over a six-week period without paying No additional interest or fees. The service will be available at any Apple Pay-enabled store, both online and offline, and will work through the MasterCard network. When users shop with Apple Pay, they will have the option to split the fee and the purchase page will detail the amount and due date of the individual payment.

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Apple announced at WWDC in June that Apple Pay Later would be available in a “future update” to iOS 16, but the company did not provide a specific timeframe. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his newsletter today that the service will likely face a delay and roll out in the spring with the iOS 16.4 update.

This leads me to believe that the company isn’t entirely sure when Apple Pay Later will be available. It’s possible that the feature won’t be available until iOS 16.4 in the spring. I’ve heard that there were considerable technical and engineering challenges in rolling out the service, which caused delays.

Apple Pay Later will be built right into the Wallet app, which can be used for online shopping and apps on iPhones and iPad. The Wallet app also gains other new features with the upcoming Apple Pay Later service, such as the ability to track online orders.

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In September, it was reported that Apple had applied for registration of the trademark “PAY LATER”, which is currently pending in the international classification of advertising sales and financial management.

Apple announced at WWDC22 in June that Apple Pay Later would be updated to iOS 16 “in the future,” but the company did not provide a specific timeline. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his newsletter today that the service could face delays and will roll out in the spring with the iOS 16.4 update.

"This leads me to believe the company isn't entirely sure when Apple Pay Later will be available. The feature may not be available until iOS 16.4 in the spring. I've heard that there were considerable technical and engineering challenges in rolling out the service, resulting in delays."

Apple PayLater will be built into the Apple Wallet app and can be used to make purchases online as well as in the app on iPhones and iPad. In addition to the upcoming Apple Pay Later service, the Apple Wallet app is gaining other new features, such as the ability to track online orders and more.

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