Apple plans to add several new features to Apple Pay and Apple Wallet later this year, as well as more deeply integrate financing, points and buy now, pay later options into the iPhone.
The company said the new features are part of its annual iOS update scheduled for release in the fall. The company announced some of the features at its annual developer conference this week and released more details on Tuesday.
The biggest change for consumers is that banks will be able to offer multiple forms of financing to their customers within Apple Pay and pay with rewards and programs through their iPhone and other Apple devices.
Currently, iPhone users can currently use their credit or debit cards to make purchases with Apple Pay.
In the future, Apple plans to allow banks to offer other forms of financing through the same credit card, including buy now, pay later, monthly installments and the use of rewards points.
Buy now, pay later company Affirm is integrating with Apple Pay, allowing customers to apply for an Affirm account within Apple Pay. Following the news, Affirm’s shares rose about 5% on Tuesday.
Apple said that its buy now, pay later service, known as Apple Pay Later, will continue and that other major buy now, pay later companies, such as Klarna, will be able to integrate with Apple Wallet.
Apple Pay has become a major force in mobile and digital payments since its introduction nearly a decade ago alongside Apple Wallet.
Nearly every bank and credit card company has integrated their credit and debit cards with Apple Pay, mobile concert ticketing has become standard, and several states are experimenting with issuing digital driver’s licenses.
A limiting factor for Apple Pay is that it is only available on iOS devices, which only account for about a third of the smartphone market.
However, Apple has announced that it will allow Apple Pay on Windows PCs and Google’s Chrome browser later this year.
These customers will be able to scan the code and authorise Apple Pay transactions on their mobile phones.
