Apple is expanding internal testing of the App Store’s Buy Now, Pay Later service to its retail employees, surpassing enterprise employees. Although a full public launch is still pending, this latest move could be a sign that the feature will be released relatively soon.
This information comes from a Bloomberg report (opens in a new tab) by notable Apple insider Mark Gurman who spoke to some store employees. The current version of Pay Later is still a “test version”, so it’s unclear exactly how close it is to the final product.
Not much was revealed in Gurman’s report other than the implication that the service appears to be working as expected. Apple Pay Later, first revealed at the WWDC 2022 event, would allow customers to spread the cost of a purchase made on an iOS device over “four equal payments over six weeks, without incurring interest or fees. delay”. That’s basically the company’s take on Klarna. When released, Pay Later is expected to settle on Apple Wallet as an alternative payment option during checkout.
The service was originally slated to launch alongside iOS 16 until Apple ran into “technical challenges”, according to another report from Gurman. It’s unclear what those development hiccups were, but they could be linked to a “new financial platform” initiative.
Ultimately, these initiatives could take the form of another financial service from the tech giant called Apple Pay Monthly Installments, which is being developed in conjunction with Goldman Sachs. The Bloomberg report claims that users will be able to “spread the cost of large transactions over several months.” The catch, unfortunately, is that interest will be part of this new service. Other than that, not much is known about it as the service hasn’t even been officially announced yet.
History repeated
Going back to the launch date, the reason some, like Gurman, are expecting an imminent launch is due to Pay Later’s development similarities to the Apple Card. In 2019, the company also gave its retail employees early access to the Apple Card before rolling it out to the public a month later.
That’s not to say Pay Later will be released in March for sure, but it’s worth pointing out that this company CEO Tim Cook recently said the service “will soon be launched” in the United States. We asked Apple if they could give us any hints on when Pay Later will be released, but at the time of this writing, they don’t have any yet.
All we can do right now is wait for the company to announce its next Keynote event, which is usually held in the spring if the last two years are any indication. While we have you, be sure to TechRadar’s recently updated list on the best personal finance software for the year to help you manage your budgets.
