Fintech Insights - What Does Apple’s Entrance into BNPL Mean for the Market?

In its latest WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), Apple has announced its intention to launch BNPL (buy now, pay later) services via its digital wallet, Apple Pay. The service, which was made popular by service providers such as Klarna, Affirm Holdings, and ClearPay, enables users to pay for goods or a service through regular interest-free payment instalments; most commonly spread over three monthly payments.

At present, Apple has proposed that users will be offered either interest-free payments split over four instalments; payable every two weeks or with interest spread over several months. Users will be able to use any debit or credit card in their Apple Wallets to fulfil payments both online and in store. It is predicted that Apple’s BNPL offerings will be available to approved users in select geographical regions by the end of 2022, with the launch of Apple’s updated operating system iOS 16.