Amazon is entering the delayed pay arena after announcing its partnership with “buy now, pay later” platform provider Affirm on Friday.
The e-commerce giant’s “pay-over-time” option will be available at checkout, allowing Amazon consumers to split the cost of purchases of $50 or more into smaller monthly installments dispersed over a longer period of time.
The total cost of the purchase will be always be displayed, Affirm said, and customers will not have to pay any more than the agreed amount.
Affirm also said that while some of the Amazon customer loans will bear interest, others will come at 0% APR, with no late or hidden fees.
“By partnering with Amazon we’re bringing the transparency, predictability and affordability that Affirm provides today to the millions of people who shop on Amazon.com in the U.S.,” Senior Vice President of Sales at Affirm Eric Morse said in a statement.
The buy-now-pay-later model has become more popular among younger generations of consumers, who typically desire flexible payment options and are more willing to use this method of credit than to pay the full price upfront. Its market is heating up as e-commerce companies are looking to make deals and capitalize on pay-later companies, like Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay. PayPal and Apple Pay have also introduced similar installment plans to their payment methods.
Shares of Affirm jumped more than 40% following the announcement of the partnership, which added more than $80 million to its market cap. The Amazon partnership is expected to be a major advantage for Affirm, especially as COVID-19 pandemic-driven e-commerce consumer habits helped Amazon overtake Walmart for most sales.
The payment option is only available to a select few right now, but Amazon plans to release it broadly to all consumers in the coming months.
With apps like Venmo and Cash App becoming more and more commonplace these days, other companies are trying to get in on the action by creating their own peer-to-peer money transfer apps.
One of these companies is Apple. Apple Cash – which is different from Apple Pay, the virtual wallet that stores your credit cards on your phone to use in stores – is Apple’s money transfer service.
Like other apps, Apple Cash lets you send money to your friends quickly and easily. The only catch is that your friends also need to have a compatible Apple device, and need to link it to their bank account.
If you’re interested in signing up and trying Apple Cash for yourself, here’s what you need to know.
How to set up Apple Cash
Before you get started
In order to use Apple Cash, you need to be over the age of 18, and have:
Before you’re able to set up Apple Cash, you’ll also need to enable two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. And of course, you have to be signed into iCloud on any device you want to send or receive money on.
How to use Apple Cash
To use your Apple Cash card to send payments to others, it first has to have money on it. There are two ways to make this happen: Add the money yourself, or receive money from someone else using Apple Cash.
To add money to your Apple Cash Card using your iPhone or iPad:
1. Open the Wallet app and tap your new Apple Cash card.
2. Tap the three dots in the top-right corner to bring up the menu.
Tap the menu button in the top-right.
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3. To add money to your Apple Cash card, tap the “Add Money” button right underneath the name of the card.
To load funds onto your card, tap “Add Money.”
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4. Type in how much you want to add, then tap “Add” in the top-right corner. The minimum amount you can add is $10.
Select the amount of money you want by typing it or using the preset amount buttons.
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To transfer money off of your card and back into your bank account or onto your debit card, follow these same steps – just tap the “Transfer to Bank” button instead of the “Add Money” button.
Once you’ve added money, you can send it. Unlike Venmo or Cash App, Apple Cash doesn’t have its own app – instead, you go through the messages app.
To send or request money with Apple Cash on iPhone or iPad:
1. Start or open a conversation with the person you want to send money to or request from. Remember that they need to have a compatible Apple ID and device too.
2. Tap the apps button to the left of the text box to bring up a list of apps you can use in Messages.
3. Tap the Apple Pay button.
Tap the apps button, then tap Apple Pay.
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4. Enter the amount you want to send or request, either using the directional arrows or by bringing up the full keypad, then tap either “Pay” or “Request.”
Enter the amount, then choose whether to send or request it.
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If all you wanted was to request money, that’s all you have to do – your payment won’t go through until the other person accepts it on their end. If you’re sending money, there’s one more step.
5. The payment will appear in the text box. Double check that the amount is correct, then tap the send button, and verify with your Face ID, Touch ID, or Apple ID password.
