Apple to use purchase history data for Apple Pay Later approvals

For its soon-to-be launched buy-now pay-later service Apple Pay Later, tech giant Apple will evaluate customers’ previous spending on its hardware and services in order to predict their creditworthiness, Bloomberg tech reporter Mark Gurman wrote on Wednesday.

In addition, the iPhone-maker will also check out if they have applied for an Apple Card before, along with the other cards they have connected to their Apple Pay accounts, Gurman said.

The company first unveiled the Apple Pay Later service at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, more than a year after sources familiar with the matter shared its plans with Bloomberg. At WWDC, the company said that it would launch the service with an update to iOS 16, allowing Apple Pay customers to split their purchases into four equal installments over six weeks, without any interest or additional charges. 

Although Apple has released numerous updates to iOS 16, it hasn’t launched the pay-later service yet. In September, days after iOS 16 was made available, Mark Gurman wrote that the company delayed the launch until this spring, due to ‘’significant technical and engineering challenges’’.

The service is expected to launch soon, initially in the United States. The company is currently testing it with Apple Store retail employees.

Meanwhile, Apple is also reportedly exploring alternative payment options to allow customers to split their purchases into more installments, but with possible interests and additional charges.