Sources: Apple and Goldman Sachs are working on a “buy now, pay later” service to let consumers pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments, rivaling Affirm
- Service to let users pay off any Apple Pay purchase over time — Fresh partnership with Apple could boost Goldman consumer push
Apple Pay users would gain an installment option across purchases made with the wallet, rather than only at a specific device checkout.
Affirm faces a proposed rival attached to Apple Pay’s existing purchase flow, while Goldman gains a new route for its consumer-finance push.
Second-order effects
Merchants that already accept Apple Pay could offer installment payments without separately building an Affirm checkout integration, making wallet acceptance more strategically valuable.
The narrower Apple-device program involving Affirm’s PayBright partnership in Canada becomes a distinct financing channel alongside a potentially broader Apple Pay offering.
Third-order effects
The subsequent shift to Apple-controlled lending indicates a longer-term move from bank-partnered payments products toward Apple owning more of the underwriting and loan-decision layer.
If Apple Pay installments become a standard wallet feature, buy-now-pay-later competition shifts from merchant-by-merchant distribution toward control of the payment interface and borrower data.
The trend: Consumer payment platforms are expanding from transaction rails into embedded credit, with control of underwriting becoming the strategic next layer.
This doesn't seem very... Apple. The company's whole schtick is trust - your phone is locked down, data isn't shared etc - and getting into slightly icky financial services like this seems like a good way to undermine it. https://twitter.com/...
Are you really a tech company if you haven't launched any credit products? 😂 “Apple, Goldman Plan ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Service to Rival Affirm - Apple Pay Later” https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
This is how Apple gets to a broader addressable market by creating new financial funding rather than considerably lowering prices https://twitter.com/...
NEW: Apple is working on a new “buy now, pay later” service that will let consumers pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments, rivaling offerings from Affirm and PayPal https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Apple is reportedly getting into buy-now-pay-later via a partnership with Goldman Sachs. Yet another case of massive tech companies turning an entire business into little more than a feature. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
New story: Apple plans “buy now, pay later” service with Goldman Sachs to add monthly payments to any Apple Pay purchase. Includes “Apple Pay in 4” four interest-free payments or multi-month installments, rivaling Affirm and PayPal. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Affirm now off 8%, was at one point down 16%. (What happens when a big tech company reduces your business model to a feature?) https://www.cnbc.com/...
Eventually every tech company decides it wants to be a bank. In hindsight bringing the concept of “layaway” and rebranding it (Buy Now, Pay Later) was probably one of the most low hanging fruit to offer as a fintech service. https://www.bloomberg.com/...