Apple Pay Later beta testing expands; monthly ‘buy now, pay later’ option also in the works

While Apple Pay Later was announced at WWDC 2022, the “buy now, pay later” feature has not yet launched to the public. That could soon change, however, as a report suggests Apple has “expanded an internal test” of the feature to its thousands of retail employees, “a sign the feature is finally nearing a public release.”

Apple Pay Later: What is it?

Apple CEO Tim Cook touched on the looming release of Apple Pay Later alongside the company’s earnings release last week. At the time, Cook said that the feature was being tested among certain Apple employees. Today’s report from Bloomberg indicates that the test has significantly expanded.

According to the report, Apple contacted retail employees this week to “offer them a test version of the service” ahead of its public launch. “Apple has about 270 stores in the US and more than 80,000 employees across the country, letting the company quickly test the feature with a large population,” Bloomberg explains.

For those unfamiliar, Apple Pay Later is a new financial service from Apple that will allow customers in the United States to split purchases into four equal payments across six weeks, with no fees or interest. The feature will be available anywhere Apple Pay is accepted online or in-app.

Here’s how Apple describes the feature:

Apple Pay Later provides users in the US with a seamless and secure way to split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees of any kind.

Built into Apple Wallet and designed with users’ financial health in mind, Apple Pay Later makes it easy to view, track, and repay Apple Pay Later payments within Wallet. Users can apply for Apple Pay Later when they are checking out with Apple Pay, or in Wallet.

Apple Pay Later is available everywhere Apple Pay is accepted online or in-app, using the Mastercard network.

Monthly version also in the works

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

As the name implies, this would allow users to split larger purchases into equal payments over a longer amount of time. These longer-term payment plans, however, would carry interest fees, unlike the short-term Apple Pay Later installments.

Apple Pay Monthly Installments hasn’t yet been announced by Apple. This service is likely further down the roadmap, as Apple first works to finally launch Apple Pay Later to everyone in the United States.

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