Two years after it was unveiled and less than a year after it rolled out in the US, Apple’s Pay Later feature is being shut down, according a report Monday from 9to5Mac. The Apple Pay feature allowed users to take out loans and pay for purchases from $50 to $1,000 in four installments.
The service, offered in cooperation with Mastercard and Goldman Sachs would be replaced by a built-in feature in the upcoming iOS 18 that allows for third-party buy now, pay later loan companies such as Affirm to do the same, the report said.
The draw of Pay Later was that it offered those loans with no fees or interest, and could be tracked in Apple Wallet. Apple told the publication that users with existing Pay Later loans will still be able to pay those off and track them with Wallet. Apple had only begun providing payment info since March and only to Experian, not the other two credit bureaus.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but told 9to5Mac in a statement Monday that the change will happen later this year (iOS 18 is due out in September), and that loans will be offered through credit cards, debit cards and lenders when customers pay for an item with Apple Pay.
“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,” Apple added.
Apple said in its WWDC announcements that in the US, Citigroup, Synchrony Financial and Apple Pay issuers using the software Finserv would be able to issue buy now, pay later loans through Apple Pay.
Read more: Best Credit Cards for June 2024
