This week at WWDC, Apple made several announcements as regards the software side of the company, but our interest was instead piqued by what the firm is doing on the finance front.

To that end Apple Pay Later was announced as a new Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service rolled into its iOS 16 Wallet app for those in the United States to split payments into more manageable portions while shopping online.

While it now means that Apple is getting involved in the burgeoning BNPL space, it also looks like the company is aiming to handle all elements of this new offering, as a Bloomberg report notes that a subsidiary called Apple Finance has been spun up.

The subsidiary would handle credit checks and customer approvals for the new Apple Pay Later solution, having obtained the necessary licensing in the US to do so.

At the time of writing Mastercard will take care of the payment credentials for Pay Later, but as we have seen with the physical Apple Card which does indeed lending and credit assessments, the company is looking to develop capabilities in-house before turning into a fully fledged part of the business.

If the new Finance subsidiary proves successful, it would mean that Apple would be less dependant on the likes of Mastercard should it wish to roll out Pay Later and other financial services both in the US and other parts of the globe.

We have already seen Apple break free of silicon makers since developing its own foundry and releasing several iterations of chip so far. To that end, Bloomberg says that Apple is also working on its own payment processing engine, which would certainly track with the company’s current modus operandi in developing more ventures in the services space.

Given the company’s recent history when it comes to how payments are facilitated, especially in the App Store, this development will likely be watched with interest by regulators.