Apple Discontinues Apple Pay Later, A Limit to Apple’s Fintech Ambition, Apple’s Predicament
We begin with my thoughts on Apple discontinuing Apple Pay Later. We go over the “why” behind the move. The discussion then turns to Apple’s fintech ambition. We look at where Apple has likely drawn a line in the sand as to what can be done internally in the fintech space versus partnering with existing institutions. The update concludes with a closer look at Apple’s predicament in the space.
Hello everyone. Today’s update will be focused on Apple Pay Later news.
Let’s jump right in.
Apple Discontinues Apple Pay Later
At WWDC 2022, Apple announced it was getting into the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) space with a product called Apple Pay Later.
Apple Pay users in the U.S. would be able to split a purchase into four equal payments across six weeks with zero interest and no fees. Consumer loans are underwritten to facilitate BNPL purchases.
Apple Pay Later saw a limited launch in March 2023 with a broader rollout last October.
Last week, the following was posted to Apple’s Pay Later support page:
“Apple Pay Later is no longer offering new loans. Existing Apple Pay Later loans and purchases are not affected.”
That is another way of saying that Apple Pay Later has been discontinued. In a statement to various publications, Apple provided clarification to 9to5Mac:
“Starting later this year, users across the globe will be able to access installment loans offered through credit and debit cards, as well as lenders, when checking out with Apple Pay. With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S. Our focus continues to be on providing our users with access to easy, secure and private payment options with Apple Pay, and this solution will enable us to bring flexible payments to more users, in more places across the globe, in collaboration with Apple Pay enabled banks and lenders.”
Apple Pay Later discontinuation is timed to coincide
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Apple to Exit Goldman Sachs Partnership, Apple’s Problem With Banks, Apple’s Solution
Hello everyone. In today's update, we will go over the big Apple / Goldman Sachs news. Neil looks at what the news means and doesn’t mean. In addition, the discussion includes a look at Apple’s major problem with banks and possible solutions management can pursue to overcome the problem.
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Apple Launches High-Yield Savings Account, Apple’s Great Timing, Apple’s Expanding Fintech Play (Daily Update)
Happy Tuesday. We begin today’s update with an examination of Apple’s new savings account (in partnership with Goldman Sachs). The discussion goes over three things about the account that jumped out at Neil. We then go over how Apple has great timing with this savings account and how the new product fits within Apple’s broader fintech play.
Apple Launches High-Yield Savings Account
In a press release issued yesterday, here’s Apple:
“Starting today, Apple Card users can choose to grow their Daily Cash rewards with a Savings account from Goldman Sachs, which offers a high-yield APY of 4.15 percent — a rate that’s more than 10 times the national average. With no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements, users can easily set up and manage their Savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet.
‘Savings helps our users get even more value out of their favorite Apple Card benefit — Daily Cash — while providing them with an easy way to save money every day,’ said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. ‘Our goal is to build tools that help users lead healthier financial lives, and building Savings into Apple Card in Wallet enables them to spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place.’
Once a Savings account is set up, all future Daily Cash earned by the user will be automatically deposited into the account. The Daily Cash destination can also be changed at any time, and there’s no limit on how much Daily Cash users can earn. To build on their savings even further, users can deposit additional funds into their Savings account through a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance.”
Like Apple Card, this savings account is run through Goldman Sachs. This means Apple doesn’t need to have a banking charter and get bogged down by regulatory items. More on this shortly.
It’s not fair to say this is just a Goldman Sachs savings account wrapped in an Apple shell or covering.
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Apple's WWDC 2022 (Daily Updates Recap)
Earlier this month, I flew out to Cupertino to attend Apple’s in-person WWDC event.
The best way of describing the event at Apple Park was Apple getting back into the swing of hosting in-person events. Excluding the masks and hand sanitizer stations, it felt like a usual in-person Apple event. There was a waiting area for press, hundreds of Apple Retail greeters with an infectiously-positive mood, and a product demo area for the media following the keynote.
My estimate is there were 200 to 250 members of the press and media in attendance, including some international press. That’s a smaller crowd that usual. As for developers, there were approximately 1,000. In terms of Apple employees, my best count was that 2,000, possibly even as many as 2,500, watched the keynote.
The event also served as Apple’s first “open house” for its massive circular ring building at Apple Park. All prior Apple Park events for the press took place at Steve Jobs Theater which is located on the other side of Apple Park. For those events, Apple was careful not to have any visitors stray to other parts of the campus.
The Ring at Apple Park (Above Avalon)
The keynote viewing area, as shown below, was intelligently thought out. Apple opened the giant glass walls found in the employee cafeteria to create an indoor / outdoor venue. This served as an adequate solution for getting a lot of people out of the sun. As for those who were baking in the sun, they were given more comfortable, beach-style chairs in return. For the first time, the best seats in the house at an Apple keynote were in the middle of the audience, seated in the shade.
Inside The Ring at Apple Park (Above Avalon)
Interestingly, Apple began airing the taped keynote three minutes earlier than the public streaming. The delay seemed intentional, possibly as a way to encourage live blogging / tweeting since there didn’t seem to be any other reason for starting it early. The largest screen that Apple relied on to show the presentation was shockingly good – the clearest big screen I have ever come across, while the sound system made it seem like I was in an indoor event.
As for why Apple went through the trouble of having ~1,000 developers come on campus despite having an all-virtual WWDC with labs and sessions occurring online, the company missed the community aspect that had become a WWDC tradition. There are clear benefits found with having a virtual WWDC, such as a significant increase in accessibility. However, the face-to-face interactions and social elements that developers experience have been sorely missed the past two years.
My suspicion is that Apple will rely on the event structure again, including in September with the upcoming product event. Apple likely hopes it will be able to host the event inside Steve Jobs Theater. All-in-all, the format worked well, with meticulous planning and preparation throughout. Apple has gotten really good at putting on these massive events. More importantly, an event structure reminiscent of a movie premiere offers a good combination of virtual benefits such as the well-polished taped presentation with animated transitions that can never be replicated in real time and in-person perks like a product demo area.
An Ecosystem Event
WWDC is all about software updates with new hardware sprinkled in from time to time. As Tim Cook put it when concluding the keynote: “[W]e pushed our software platforms forward in some incredible new ways. Introducing features and capabilities that will enable our developers to do amazing work and provide our users with exciting new experiences."
A different way of thinking about WWDC is that it’s Apple’s annual ecosystem event – the one time each year when Apple shows how it is pushing its entire ecosystem forward.
An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this article. Members can read the full article here.
The full article includes the following sections:
Attending the Event
An Ecosystem Event
iOS 16 Takeaways
The New MacBook Air
The iPadOS vs. macOS Debate
The Big Surprise Found With Apple Pay Later
Revisiting Apple’s Credit Kudos Acquisition
CarPlay Mistruths
My Full Notes from the Keynote
Winners and Losers From WWDC 2022
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