After less than 1 year of full access to Apple Pay later, Cupertino has stopped its installments service from today. 

Part of the shutdown is to focus on features coming to Apple Pay this fall, as reported by 9to5mac. 

Apple told 9to5mac: "From the second half of this year, users around the world will be able to access credit and debit cards as well as installment loans offered through lenders when checking out with Apple Pay. With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay later in the United States."

Obviously, active loans in progress will be manageable through the Apple Wallet app, but we will not be able to start a new plan.

Apple announced Apple Pay in 2022/8 as a new feature in iOS 16. At the time, it was a clear answer to a service that offered its own version of Buy Now, like Klarna or Affirm, and would pay later by splitting payments into smaller chunks over a period of time. It was intended to arrive on May 9, but only a limited test was seen among Apple employees. 

This service was only "early access" until last spring. Still, when it was announced, Apple Pay was only scheduled for U.S. customers later, before finally becoming a reality on May 10 last year. 

Apple Pay Later can be used on any website that accepts Apple Pay. The loan itself ranges from range50 to 0 to 1000 and allows you to split purchases over four equal payments over six weeks with no fees or interest.

appears to be part of a broader, global rollout of the new Apple Pay feature that is supposed to come out in the fall. U.S. users make sure they are integrated into the system and later get a version of Apple Pay with their former rivals.  In the announcement, Apple said of the new features:"Apple Pay gives users even more flexibility and choice when they check out online and in-app. Users can view and redeem rewards from eligible credit or debit cards and access installment loan offers when making online or in-app purchases on their iphones and iPads.

The loan, which was later made via Apple Pay, was backed by Apple itself. It is not clear from either announcement whether teaming up with Affirm means whether responsibility has been transferred to them.