Apple announced Monday its entry into the "buy now-pay later" market, which has ramped up its adoption significantly during the pandemic.
From next fall, certified Apple Pay users in the United States will be able to pay for their purchases in four installments over six weeks, "without interest or fees of any kind," according to a company statement.
The statement explained that the new feature "Apple Pay Later" allows the user to "track and pay easily."
On Monday, Apple officials explained the functionality of a number of new tools and improvements to its iOS 16 operating system for mobile phones. These tools and improvements will be automatically installed on their smartphones in the fall.
The service will rely on the payment card network "MasterCard", but "Apple" did not specify which bank will be responsible for the credits. And the agency "Bloomberg" indicated last year that it will be "Goldman Sachs".
In recent years, Apple has resorted to diversifying its services and sources of income significantly in order to keep users of its devices in the orbit of its system, whether with regard to communication services, the entertainment aspect, work and online shopping.
This time, Apple is entering a field that has been preceded by other companies, including Affirm, a partner of Amazon and Stripe, in addition to AfterPay, Clarna and PayPal.
Promoters of this method of financing stress that it is a less risky alternative to credit cards, which charge interest that is often difficult to understand and can accumulate quickly.
This method has become popular during the pandemic and partnerships with merchants have increased, and they are willing to pay a percentage of the transaction for purchases that consumers were not necessarily able to pay at once.
But in December, a US agency opened an investigation into the risks and benefits of these payment solutions.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau expressed concern about the potential for debt buildup, compliance with consumer protection laws and the use of data collected by companies that provide these products.
Grand View Research estimated the size of the global "Buy Now, Pay Later" market at about five billion dollars in 2021, and expects it to reach about 40 billion dollars by 2030.
