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The Almighty Buck Apple

Apple Introduces Apple Pay Later (apple.com) 83

Apple: Apple today introduced Apple Pay Later in the U.S. Designed with users' financial health in mind, Apple Pay Later allows users to split purchases into four payments, spread over six weeks with no interest and no fees. Users can easily track, manage, and repay their Apple Pay Later loans in one convenient location in Apple Wallet. Users can apply for Apple Pay Later loans of $50 to $1,000, which can be used for online and in-app purchases made on iPhone and iPad with merchants that accept Apple Pay. Starting today, Apple will begin inviting select users to access a prerelease version of Apple Pay Later, with plans to offer it to all eligible users in the coming months.

Apple Pay Later is built right into Wallet, so users can seamlessly view, track, and manage all of their loans in one place. With Apple Pay Later in Wallet, users can easily see the total amount due for all of their existing loans, as well as the total amount due in the next 30 days. Apple Pay Later is offered by Apple Financing, a subsidiary of Apple, which is responsible for credit assessment and lending. Apple Financing plans to report Apple Pay Later loans to U.S. credit bureaus starting this fall, so they are reflected in users' overall financial profiles and can help promote responsible lending for both the lender and the borrower.

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Apple Introduces Apple Pay Later

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  • I guess when the music is playing you gotta dance, but BNPL screams "sleaze" and Apple is a premium brand.
    • Starbucks will offer a handy.

    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      I guess when the music is playing you gotta dance, but BNPL screams "sleaze" and Apple is a premium brand.

      BNPL is sleaze because most of the providers are sleazy. But those are generally longer term BNPL where there are tons of caveats and the terms are much longer (e.g., 1-2 year payback). Considering this is really just 6 weeks, this isn't much longer than a normal credit card where you typically have 30 days to pay back. This is a short term loan.

  • by cuda13579 ( 1060440 ) on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @10:50AM (#63406066)

    No....not really.

    • by taustin ( 171655 )

      Well, sure it is. Just not designed with users' good financial health in mind.

      • Yup. Especially those unable to put such pitty money on the side, shouldn't be spending it.. BNPL gets so many people in trouble, aspiring to get all the ads tell 'em they're worth whatever with complete disregard for their financial status.

        Unable to manage your finances? Buy Now, Screwed Later.

  • Profitable strategy, not particularly ethical though.

  • by Xylantiel ( 177496 ) on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @11:14AM (#63406172)
    The big US car manufacturers all slowly turned into mostly financing companies. Which generally made them less good car companies.
  • The US government has run up so much debt that there is no money left for anything other than debt service. Why shouldn't individuals do the same? In fact those who choose this might be wise. At some point there has to be a massive correction here in the US. Savers might get wiped out. Debtors might luck out. Of course maybe that won't happen. But it's pretty hard to argue for long-term savings when your own government can't get it's fiscal house in order. Of course, I am a saver and would never use
    • I would've expected people to be smarter when it's their money they're squandering instead of someone else's.

    • At some point there has to be a massive correction here in the US. Savers might get wiped out. Debtors might luck out. Of course maybe that won't happen.

      Student loan forgiveness is a version of this. Anybody approaching retirement needs to be thinking about the financial risks of possible populist measures like higher taxes on capital gains, property taxes, or means testing social security. Even if you agree with such things on principle and hope they do come true, they have to be regarded as factors i

    • by Bahbus ( 1180627 )

      "Savers" need to be wiped out, because they cause all the problems. Small scale and for the poor, it's fine and almost necessary, but the rich are "savers" too. A large number sitting in the bank account is useless.

      • A large number sitting in the bank account allows the bank to provide meaningful financing for the creation of high-value capital goods.
        • by Bahbus ( 1180627 )

          I don't give a shit about what the bank can provide. Individuals with large bank accounts aren't necessary for that anyway. Lots of people with smaller accounts accomplishes the same thing with less risk. Look at SVB - a series of bad calls along with just a comparative handful of people that pull their big money out and collapse the bank. Fuck banks. They should NOT be privately owned, for-profits. I hope all the banks collapse in America.

  • by TwistedGreen ( 80055 ) on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @11:19AM (#63406186)

    Wow! No fees*, no interest**, and a good way to build credit*** without a credit card! Why not use it for everything? Apple truly cares about its customers... /s

  • For a while, you've been able to buy Apple products and instead of paying all at once, spread payments over two years(!).

    I guess in some ways it's nice to have this flexibility, but it does seem like a dangerous tool to give a lot of people that can't manage budgets responsibly... but just because some people can't handle them, does not means tools should not exist.

  • As someone who grew up in poverty and now lives comfortably, this makes me sick to my stomach. Beyond the human-misery factor, financing just harms lower-cost device providers. There are plenty of inexpensive android phones and tablets around who may get less sales. The other part I don't like is that Apple raised the price of their cheapest iPad...a VERY popular seller for children doing homework, zoom-lessons, even doctor visits. The market should punish them by customers buying less iPads: either bu
    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      I don't see it as hurting much - after all, it's just a short term thing. Instead of getting 30 days as you do with a regular credit card, you get 45 days or so (6 weeks). So I don't see it killing sales of cheap devices at all - it's just a slightly extended payback time.

    • by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      As someone who grew up in poverty and now lives comfortably, this makes me sick to my stomach. Beyond the human-misery factor, financing just harms lower-cost device providers. There are plenty of inexpensive android phones and tablets around who may get less sales.

      I think you're confused here. Apple has always had a pay-over-twelve-months option for their own products (when purchased directly from Apple). This just makes it possible for some Android tablets to qualify for similar treatment over a shorter time scale. So this would actually help those device providers.

      The other part I don't like is that Apple raised the price of their cheapest iPad...a VERY popular seller for children doing homework, zoom-lessons, even doctor visits. The market should punish them by customers buying less iPads: either buying competitors or waiting longer to buy. Financing schemes may reduce the pain they need to feel for their anti-customer decisions.

      Again, financing Apple Store purchases has always been possible, so this changes nothing.

      I'm trying to be open-minded and think of scenarios in which this helps a struggling family, but I just can't.

      The clientele of Apple credit cards (mostly people with above average income and high credit scores) makes it pr

  • Seriously, buddy, if you need to finance a fashion statement, it's time to reconsider your financial situation.

  • I'm holding out for Apple Pay Never.

  • High costs of living have made it more difficult to impulse by as people are watching their finances or waiting until they get paid. Since it wears off, Apple is trying to get you to commit to the purchase before the impulse buy wears off.

  • 1) Apple releases a loan program
    2) Economy tanks, people can't repay the loan
    3) Apple creates Loyalty Centers for those who can't pay
    4) Apple uses the debtors to build all its electronics (only labor cheaper than India/China is slave labor)
    5) ??
    6) Profit!
  • Pay later is not enough. I will only start buying Apple when they introduce "Pay Never."

  • So if there are no user fees, how exactly are they making money then? Are there vendor fees? Are they hoping enough new people are taken in by this that they start using Apple Pay when they didn't before (thus increasing their vendor fees)? I am sure this is not out of the goodness of their heart, so where exactly are they making money here?

  • More ways to put yourself into MORE debt!

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