Apple ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ feature raises antitrust concerns
Apple will bring many features with iOS 16. One of them is the buy now, pay later feature. The tagline for this feature is buying now, pay later. As the name suggests, it accepts late payments for services its users will purchase or subscribe to. But service seems to fall under the Consumer…
Berkan AslanPublished 2 min read
Apple will bring many features with iOS 16. One of them is the buy now, pay later feature. The tagline for this feature is buying now, pay later. As the name suggests, it accepts late payments for services its users will purchase or subscribe to. But service seems to fall under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)‘s radar. CFPB director Rohit Chopra had some statements on the subject. According to these statements, Apple’s new feature that will come with iOS 16 may pose several problems.
Background of buy now, pay later (BNPL) feature
Apple announced the buy now, pay later feature at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). According to this feature, Apple will not charge any interest from its users for up to 6 weeks. In other words, you will be able to receive late payments with zero interest.
According to Big Tech, the top US consumer finance regulator, Apple’s feature could undermine competition and pose an issue regarding the security of customer data. Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, warned Silicon Valley about the issue. According to Rohit Chopra, this feature should be genuinely explored and its potential problems proactively addressed. Rohit Chopra also said in an interview that he wants to know that this feature will not reduce innovation and competition.
Apple’s buy now, pay later feature has antitrust, and some questions were asked to be answered transparently. There are some questions the editor wants answers from Apple. These questions are about how Apple collects and processes user data. Similar questions have been asked to tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and PayPal.
In general, Apple is a company that reassures its users about data privacy. But buy now should also prepare itself well on the legal ground related to the pay later feature. It seems that CFPB could give Apple a headache on the subject. What do you, our readers, comment on this subject? Please share with us in the comments.