The debut of Apple Pay Later alerted the buy now pay later (BNPL) market.
Apple Pay Later is approved at over 85% of US shops, making it easy for consumers to use. In its early days, Apple attracted a higher percentage of overextended consumers than other companies, possibly due to BNPL users’ eagerness to explore a new payment option from a reputable brand. In its first three months, 19% of BNPL clients used Apple Pay Later. Over the same period, PayPal (39%), Afterpay (33%), and others were the most popular BNPL brands. Apple Pay Later users were more financially stable than most other BNPL clients, making it a more sustainable user base.
A recent poll of 8,000 consumers demonstrates how swiftly Apple is making its presence known in the market after only a few months.
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Leveraging The Brand
Apple quickly acquired consumers from BNPL competitors, as expected. Apple is the second most valuable brand in the world at $297.5 billion, despite a challenging 2022. Customers are happier with fresh Apple items than with solutions from decades-old companies. Apple continues to expand its financial services portfolio with BNPL. But the company’s power goes beyond its brand. A global network and tremendous resources allow it enter new markets smoothly.
Quick market share growth for Apple Pay Later
The March debut of Apple Pay Later gave millions of potential users access.Apple has many advantages over its BNPL competitors, who had to win customers and merchant acceptance individually. Apple used its army of Apple Pay customers and global acceptance footprint to scale rapidly. Apple Wallet lets customers with compatible iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs manage Apple Pay Later. The app store, which had over 650 million weekly visitors in 2022, will also include the BNPL solution.
A New Customer Base
Apple may be using its strong brand image and simple solution to lure BNPL users who would never have considered it another payment option. The analysis also implies that Apple may be drawing first-time users who would never have used BNPL. The poll found that early Apple Pay Later users were more dubious about BNPL. They were more inclined to agree that “BNPL lenders are predatory.”
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They also agreed less than average that “BNPL options are helpful to consumers” and “BNPL is an option I wish I always had when buying things.” This shows many Apple Pay Later users have never used BNPL from another supplier.
Comparison Chart
Apple has the most brand recognition, technological cachet, and network effects among BNPL companies.. PayPal and Zip consumers tried Apple Pay Later more than other BNPL brands. 17% of PayPal and Zip users who paid most often attempted Apple Pay Later. Zip has more young clients who may switch to Apple Pay Later due to their love of Apple items. Apple’s BNPL growth is driven by new users or migration from other brands, but the tech giant-turned-fintech is off to a strong start.
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