Apple is expanding an internal test of the App Store’s “buy now, pay later” service to its retail employees, rather than corporate workers. While a full public release is still pending, this latest move could be a sign that the feature is on the way.
This information is from a Bloomberg reports (opens in a new tab) Prominent Apple insider Mark Gurman talks to some store employees. The current version of Pay Later is still a “beta”, so it’s not known exactly how close it is to the final product.
Not much was revealed in Gurman’s report other than to suggest that the service appears to be working as expected. Apple Pay Later, which debuted during the WWDC 2022 event, will allow customers to spread the cost of purchases made on iOS devices over “four equal payments over six weeks without incurring interest or late fees.” That’s basically the company’s take on Klarna. Upon launch, Pay Later will make its home in Apple Wallet as an alternative payment option at checkout.
Another person said the service was supposed to launch with iOS 16 until Apple encountered some “technical challenges.” Gurman’s report. What these developmental obstacles are is unknown, but they may be related to the “new financial platform” plan.
As it turns out, the moves could come in the form of another financial service from tech giant Apple Pay Monthly Installments, which is being developed with Goldman Sachs. Users will be able to “amortize the cost of large transactions over several months,” Bloomberg’s report said. Unfortunately, the problem is that interests will be part of this new service. Other than that, not much is known about the service since it hasn’t been officially announced yet.
repeat history
Going back to the release date, the reason some people like Gurman look forward to the imminent release is because Pay Later was developed with Apple CardThe company also gave its retail employees early access to the Apple Card back in 2019 before rolling it out to the public a month later.
That’s not to say Pay Later will definitely launch in March, but it’s worth pointing out that the company CEO Tim Cook recently said The service is “coming soon” in the US. We asked Apple if they could provide any clues about a Pay Later release date, but at the time of writing, they haven’t.
All we can do at this point is wait until the company announces its next keynote event, which usually takes place in the spring if the past few years are any indication.Be sure to check out TechRadar’s recently updated list while we have you The best personal finance software year to help you manage your budget.
