Apple is readying to launch new Apple Card monthly payment plans, similar to what it introduced at the end of 2019 for iPhone. On the last quarterly earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased that the program would expand to other products soon.
According to Bloomberg, the new financing will let customers buy products including iPad, Mac, Apple Pencil, Pro Display XDR on their Apple Card in monthly instalments, over 12 months at 0% interest. Apple will offer six-months interest free plans for cheaper products like Apple TV, AirPods and HomePod. This is less than the 24 months free financing the Apple Card offers for iPhone purchases.
Just like the iPhone program, the purchase is added to the Apple Card transaction history. Once the 0% interest 6 or 12 months period is up, the remainder of the balance is added to the card and is paid in accordance to the user’s standard Apple Card interest rate.
As the financing requires an Apple Card, it naturally means the offer will be limited to the United States for the foreseeable future. Goldman Sachs has said that it is interested in bringing Apple Card to more geographic markets but nothing seems imminent at this time.
Apple added 0% financing monthly payment plans to iPhone as part of its strategy to improve iPhone sales; easier access to cheap financing means more people can afford to buy Apple’s products. The same logic extends to Apple’s other hardware too. Similarly, the plans can also increase adoptions of the Apple Card itself — which Apple makes money from over the long term.
In the past, Apple has run 0% financing promotions in partnership with third-parties like Barclaycard. But now it has its own credit card, it is gradually moving all promotions to be based on Apple Card in the US.
