After a protracted delay, Apple Inc. started offering its first "buy now, pay later"-style service, entering a market currently dominated by Affirm Holdings Inc., Klarna Bank AB, and others.

With no interest or fees, the Apple Pay Later service will split purchases into four equal payments over the course of six weeks. Users of the iPhone can borrow money from Apple in the range of $50 and $1,000 using the Wallet app.

As part of a larger effort to expand into financial services, the feature was initially introduced in June of last year. Although Apple Pay Later was supposed to launch in September, it took longer than anticipated to do so. A "pre-release" version of the service will be made available to users who are "randomly selected," according to the business, and it plans to roll it out to all customers in the "coming months."

In a novel move for the business, Apple will finance the loans through a new division called Apple Financing LLC. According to Bloomberg News, the company will also be in charge of managing credit checks and other supporting technologies required to power the service, a decision that contributed to the delays. Apple added on Tuesday that starting in the fall, it will start reporting its loans to US credit agencies.

Parts of the feature are powered by a partnership between Apple and MasterCard Inc.'s installments program, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. serving as the issuer of the payment credentials required to complete transactions. iOS 16.4, which the company released on Monday, is necessary for Apple Pay Later. Apple Music Classical, a brand-new classical music streaming service that integrates with Apple Music, was also launched by the iPhone manufacturer.

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