Apple Pay Later did not debut with iOS 16, and a new report suggests that it might not roll out before spring 2023 due to “significant challenges.”
Apple Pay Later did not debut with iOS 16, and new reports suggest that it might take a while to roll out. Apple Pay Later is a part of the company’s Apple Wallet app that is available on iPhones and Apple Watches. As is evident from its name, Apple Pay Later is a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) scheme that will allow users to split the cost of a purchase into four equal payments over six weeks at zero interest. Apple announced the service at its Worldwide Developers Conference event in June.
The Apple Wallet app incorporates several features, including the Apple Pay service, which is steadily gaining more users worldwide. Alongside Apple Pay, the Wallet app also holds payment cards, as well as digital keys for cars, homes and hotels; boarding passes, ID cards and even vaccination cards. Another new Apple Wallet feature is Apple Pay Order Tracking information, which will allow users to receive receipts and tracking details for their orders made with Apple Pay in the Wallet app. As for Apple Pay Later, it is only slated to roll out in the U.S. for now, with no mention of a possible expansion to global markets in the future.
Having announced Apple Pay Later earlier this year, the company is yet to roll it out to Apple Pay users. On its official website, Apple says that the feature is “coming in a future update” with no specific time frame for the roll-out. However, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Apple is facing some “significant technical and engineering challenges” with its proposed new feature, which could be delayed until iOS 16.4 next spring.
Apple Pay Later Is Facing “Significant Challenges”
The exact nature of the challenges that prevented Apple from rolling out Pay Later with iOS 16 remains unclear for the moment, but the company is planning a few other changes to the functioning of its Apple Card. For starters, the company is set to end its partnership with Goldman Sachs to handle credit checks and lending as part of its plans to move its financial services in-house under the Apple Financing banner.
Once it is launched, Apple Pay Later is expected to help make it easier for people to buy products that they otherwise would not have been able to afford with a one-time payment. The service requires users to pay a quarter of the price on the day of the purchase, with the remaining three-quarters to be paid in three equal installments every two weeks. However, the scheme has come under heavy criticism from advocates who believe it might increase unsustainable spending and encourage people to buy products and services they cannot afford.
