Synchrony Gives Customers Access to Apple’s Pay Later

Synchrony is giving certain customers access to the Pay Later feature of Apple Pay.

The offering lets customers pay according to the standard terms of their credit card or use a promotional offer that includes fixed monthly payments, Synchrony said in a Thursday (Jan. 16) press release.

The program is open to eligible members of the Synchrony Preferred Mastercard, Synchrony Plus World Mastercard, or Synchrony Premier World Mastercard programs, according to the release.

“The ability for customers to choose fixed monthly payments in Apple Pay with the Synchrony Mastercard builds upon our leadership in digital payments and represents a big leap forward in offering our customers an enhanced level of flexibility and choice at checkout,” Synchrony Chief Product Officer Florin Arghirescu said in the release. “We believe this simplifies digital payment transactions and provides cardholders with the ability to make purchases in ways that work best for them.”

The company aims to expand the ability to pay via fixed monthly payments to more Apple Pay users across its portfolio of co-branded cards, per the release. Later in the year, consumers will be able to view and redeem rewards from eligible Synchrony-issued cards when checking out online and in-app on iPhone and iPad with Apple Pay.

The offering comes during what could be a pivotal year for buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Cash Flow Shortages Drive Consumers’ BNPL Usage” found that BNPL is prized by consumers as a flexible alternative to traditional credit in times when they are dealing with cash flow pressures. “Cash flow compromised consumers” are 3.5 times more likely to use BNPL than other groups of consumers.

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called for additional research into BNPL after finding that BNPL borrowers carried higher balances on other credit lines. More than one-fifth of consumers with a credit report used BNPL loans in 2022, while more than 60% of BNPL users had simultaneous BNPL loans.

The CFPB also found that nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans went to consumers with subprime — or lower — credit scores, and BNPL borrowers had higher balances on other credit lines such as personal loans, retail loans, student loans, credit cards and subprime alternative financial services lenders.