Apple Just Put BNPL Into 65 Million Apple Pay Wallets
With iOS 26, Apple Pay now surfaces installment options at in-store checkout, turning every transaction into a lending decision for issuers and BNPL providers alike.
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Apple is aggressively moving buy-now, pay-later into the mainstream by embedding one-tap installments directly into the iPhone’s payment sheet for in-store use. This disruption is part of a broader shift in consumer finance, as Upstart expands into revolving credit with Cash Line and Bank of America democratizes its rewards program by slashing minimum balance requirements. Also, AI is rapidly reshaping the industry’s backend, from Intuit and Anthropic’s push into automated accounting to Experian’s new ChatGPT app that streamlines the insurance shopping experience.
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Apple Pay Pushes BNPL To Offline (In-Store) Transactions
Apple is now pushing the ability for Apple Pay users to pay with installments at the physical register, not just online and in apps. With iOS 26, installment options show up right inside the Apple Pay payment sheet when you tap to pay in store. What used to require opening a separate app or converting a purchase after the fact is now a one-tap decision at the moment of payment. Apple is not lending directly. Loans come from participating providers including Affirm, Klarna, Citi, and Synchrony. The feature is also rolling out internationally across Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden. (Apple Support) (PYMNTS)
How It Actually Works
You’re at the checkout register. You double-click your iPhone’s side button and your Apple Pay card appears. If your linked card supports installments, you’ll now see two options: Pay In Full and Pay Later.
Tap Pay Later and you’re shown the installment plans available from your card issuer or BNPL provider, including terms, payment schedule, and any conditions. Select a plan, tap Agree & Continue, confirm with Face ID, and hold your phone to the reader. Done.
You can even set up an installment plan after your purchase. Complete the transaction normally, and when the notification comes in, follow the prompts to convert it to a plan retroactively.
Previously, you loaded your card, made the purchase, and then maybe went to Affirm or your issuer’s app to convert it later. Now the installment option is right there at the point of decision. The friction is gone.
Toaster’s Take
This isn’t any ‘ole product launch. Now lenders have to compete for transactions on the basis of rewards AND their BNPL options.
Buy now, pay later started niche. It expanded online. It became a major category with Affirm. Now it’s embedded at the operating system level by Apple. That signals that BNPL has reached the mainstream adoption curve, and if you’re a card issuer not offering installments, you need to stop and think about what you might be missing by sitting out.
Offline is the Real Unlock
BNPL has historically skewed online, but roughly 3 out of every 4 U.S. retail dollars are still spent in store. E-commerce accounted for just 16.4% of total U.S. retail sales in Q3 2025, per the U.S. Census Bureau. Meanwhile, Apple Pay already captures about 54% of in-store mobile wallet transactions and accounted for 10.2% of eligible in-store purchases in 2025 according to a PYMNTS Intelligence study of 3,339 U.S. consumers. By putting installment options at the physical register, Apple is expanding BNPL’s addressable market in a big way. This may be the bigger story: not that Apple supports installments, but that it’s pushing them into the ~83% of retail that happens offline.
The Wallet Becomes a Marketplace
Apple chose not to give exclusivity to a single BNPL provider. Affirm, Klarna, Citi, and Synchrony are all visible inside the wallet, creating competitive territory at the moment of payment. Think of it like how issuers compete for new accounts inside Credit Karma, except this marketplace lives one tap away from every transaction. It’s not enough to just integrate. Winning placement inside the wallet becomes a real operational focus. We wouldn’t be surprised if lenders eventually need to dedicate teams to manage and grow their Apple Pay wallet share (if that’s not happening already).
Acquisition is No Longer Episodic
Previously, issuers competed on rewards, perks, and credit limits. Customer acquisition happened once in a while. Someone opened a card once a year, maybe. Now every single checkout is a decision moment. Apple puts “pay in full” and “pay later” side by side. The user chooses every time. Fighting for share of wallet might have just hit its Apple Pay BNPL moment.
The Bottom Line
More than half of U.S. smartphone users are on iPhones and an estimated 65.6 million people in the U.S. use Apple Pay. Google Pay supports some BNPL options through partners, but hasn’t embedded a native installment experience as deeply as Apple has. If this gains traction, expect Google to follow and wallet-level installment marketplaces to become standard.
We keep seeing the signs. Issuers may no longer be able to ignore offering BNPL on their card products. Not when Apple puts it one tap away on every iPhone.
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Upstart Announces Cash Line, Bringing Always-On Credit to Millions of Americans
Upstart is launching Cash Line, a revolving line of credit intended to provide consumers with persistent access to funds. As an AI-based lending marketplace that matches borrowers with over 100 banks and credit unions, the company is positioning this product as a more predictable alternative to traditional cash advance apps. The service offers a minimum credit limit of $200 for approved users, with the potential to reach $5,000. Upstart also includes a feature called Rest Mode to give borrowers more flexibility over their repayment schedules. Users pay a $10 monthly membership fee for credit lines up to $500, while larger draws incur an APR ranging from 5% to 36%. Although a full release is scheduled for later in 2026, the company is currently opening a waitlist for a beta version of the platform. This move shifts the company further into the revolving credit space, moving beyond its existing focus on personal, auto, and home equity loans. (Upstart)
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New BofA Rewards™ Program to Reach Millions More Clients with Expanded Benefits
Bank of America is replacing its current rewards structure with BofA Rewards, a loyalty program that removes previous balance requirements for anyone with a personal checking account. This financial institution, which provides banking and investment services to roughly 70 million clients, previously required a $20,000 minimum balance for similar perks. Starting May 27, about 30 million additional customers qualify to enroll and access benefits like credit card bonuses and cash back deals. Depending on how much a member uses the program and their specific tier, the bank estimated the annual value of these perks ranges from $150 to $4,000. Higher-tier members also receive credits for streaming services and access to events related to travel or motorsports. The company also updated its mobile app to help users track and activate these offers more easily. By shifting to this model, Bank of America attempts to capture a wider range of customers regardless of their current account balances. (Bank of America)
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Intuit and Anthropic Partner to Bring Trusted Financial Intelligence and Custom AI Agents to Consumers and Businesses
Intuit, the financial technology company that operates TurboTax and QuickBooks, is partnering with AI firm Anthropic to integrate automated agents into its software for mid-sized businesses. This multi-year agreement allows these companies to use the Claude language model to build agents for specific tasks like accounting and compliance workflows. A restaurant owner could potentially use the system to identify variances in profit margins by connecting sales data with payroll records. On the consumer side, Intuit is linking its financial data with Claude so users can estimate tax refunds or create invoices directly within Anthropic’s apps. Intuit is also providing Claude Code to its own engineers to speed up software development. While the companies describe the tools as a significant shift in capability, they noted that the systems rely on Intuit’s existing data and security infrastructure. These features are expected to begin rolling out in spring 2026. This move suggests that the future of personal finance might involve handing off the more repetitive aspects of bookkeeping to automated systems. (Intuit)
Experian Launches Insurance Marketplace App on ChatGPT
Experian launched its Insurance Marketplace app on ChatGPT, providing a way for people to shop for auto insurance through a chat interface. This global data and technology company, which handles credit reporting and financial services, aims to replace traditional forms with a conversation that allows users to compare rates from 37 carriers. Instead of clicking through various websites, users provide a ZIP code to see different coverage options and estimated prices. The company states that this process can help consumers find savings that sometimes exceed $1,000 per year. This move is part of a broader plan to move financial decision-making into AI environments. While users can explore prices in the chat, they must still go to the company website to finish a personalized quote. This setup attempts to simplify insurance shopping by using a bot to organize information that is usually spread across static pages. (Experian)
TransUnion 2026 Originations Forecast Shows Continued Positive Momentum Amidst Moderate Expansion
TransUnion, a global firm that collects and analyzes consumer credit data for businesses, expects credit originations to grow at a moderate pace through 2026. While the 2025 spike in auto loans will likely slow down as federal EV tax credits expire, mortgage and personal loans are taking over as the primary drivers of growth. Homeowners are seeing more options as interest rates move lower, which improved affordability and led to a sixth straight quarter of growth for home equity products. In the personal loan market, originations reached 7.2 million as fintech lenders took a 42% share of the sector. Despite these high volumes, TransUnion reports that lenders are staying cautious with risk because delinquency rates rose across several categories. Consumers are still using credit regularly, with total card balances reaching a substantial $1.15 trillion while the growth rate begins to level off. The data suggests the credit market is returning to traditional patterns following a period of high inflation. (TransUnion)
GoCardless Introduces AI-Native Tool for Businesses to Communicate With the Platform in Natural Language
GoCardless, a bank payment company that specializes in direct debit and instant payment processing, released its Model Context Protocol to help developers interact with its platform using natural language. This tool allows businesses to use large language models to communicate with the system, potentially reducing the time required to integrate the service into their own websites. Instead of manually searching through technical documentation, a user like a gym owner can ask the AI for specific information, such as which payments are overdue. The company notes that this setup simplifies workflows today while providing a foundation for future AI agents to handle transactions independently. This update follows a pattern of the firm using machine learning to handle failure rates and identify high-risk transactions. One of its existing tools, Success+, currently recovers an average of 70% of payments that do not go through on the first attempt. It is an interesting shift toward making financial back-ends more approachable through conversational interfaces. (GoCardless)
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