Those of you who haven’t yet sprung for an Apple Card might soon be able to get a taste of what it offers. It will be thanks to a new payments service called “Apple Pay Later” which the iPhone maker reportedly wants to launch.
Apple and Goldman Sachs already teamed up to offer Apple Card, which comes in a physical card format — as well as a digital version, essentially turning your phone itself into the credit card. Now, both companies are said to be preparing to launch a somewhat related payments service. If you think about how those of us with an Apple Card pay the company for goods and services, we swipe the card and pay the balance off over time. That’s basically the same idea behind Apple Pay Later. Giving non-Apple Card users a way to pay for an Apple purchase, over time.
‘Apple Pay Later’ — What is it?
According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple apparently wants to turn every single Apple-related purchase a customer makes into an opportunity to utilize this new payments feature.
If you’ve ever experienced sticker shock relative to the price of Apple gadgets like iPhones and iPads, you can start to see where something like this makes sense. There’s no word yet on when this payments service might launch. But here’s a little more about what it will supposedly entail:
There will be at least two options. “Apple Pay in 4” is one choice, and it lets you pay off an Apple purchase, interest-free, in four payments. However, they’ll have to be made within a narrow time period — two weeks, to be exact. Another option will be “Apple Pay Monthly Installments.” It will let you pay off an Apple purchase over several months. However, you’ll also accumulate interest along the way.
The ultimate Apple lock-in
And here’s something else to think about. People have always complained that Apple is quite adept at locking consumers into its ecosystem. Those complaints will no doubt grow louder, as Apple continues to experiment in the payments sphere. And as its users increasingly rack up a running tab, thanks to this new service, that must eventually be paid.
The glass-half-empty assessment here is that Apple is simply making it easier for people to go into debt. On the flip side, this makes it easier for Apple customers to load up on music, movies, shows, books, and gadgets. Of course, these two things can be combined, as well. The net result will be happy Apple customers who are in debt to one of the world’s most valuable companies.
