How your Apple Pay Later loan applications are evaluated

Learn about the key criteria used to determine whether your Apple Pay Later application is approved or denied, and what amount you’re able to spend.

Apple Financing is responsible for the assessment and decisioning for each Apple Pay Later loan.¹ We look at a number of factors like your credit score, credit report, and your Apple Pay Later purchase and repayment history to make credit decisions.

We may do a soft credit inquiry for evaluating your Apple Pay Later application, which won't impact your credit score.²

You can also contact an Apple Pay Later Specialist if you have questions about applying for a loan.

Requirements to apply for an Apple Pay Later loan

• Be 18 years of age or older.³

• Be a U.S. citizen or a lawful resident with a valid, physical U.S. address that's not a P.O. Box.⁴

• Set up two-factor authentication for your Apple ID and update to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.

• If you have a freeze on your credit report, you need to temporarily lift the freeze before you apply for an Apple Pay Later loan. Learn how to lift your credit freeze with Experian.

• You might need to verify your identity with a Driver License or State-issued photo ID.⁵

To make a purchase using Apple Pay Later you need to set up an eligible debit card with Apple Pay in Wallet. Apple Pay Later is available for purchases between $75 and $1,000.

Conditions that might cause your application to be declined

Apple Financing may not be able to approve your Apple Pay Later loan application for a variety of reasons, such as:

If you're behind on debt obligations or have previously been behind

• You're currently past due or have recently been past due on a debt obligation.

• You have non-medical debt collections.

If you have negative public records

• You've had a recent bankruptcy.

• Your property has recently been repossessed.

If your credit score is low

Apple Financing uses Experian and other credit bureaus to evaluate your Apple Pay Later application. If your credit score is low — for example, if your FICO^® Score 9 is less than 610⁶ or Lift Premium score is lower than 580⁷ — Apple Financing might not approve your application.

Applicants who aren’t approved for a loan may qualify in the future. We encourage interested customers to submit a new application again after 30 days of receiving the decline communication.

What you can do if you're approved for a lower loan amount than you applied for

If you aren't approved for the amount you requested, you may be approved for a lower amount.⁸ If the amount you’re approved for doesn't cover the amount of your intended purchase, you can:

• Choose to use the approved funds for a different purchase.

• Remove items from your cart until you're within the approved amount to spend, then resubmit your application.

• Switch to Pay in Full with Apple Pay.

Ways to increase the amount you may be approved for on future applications

• Consistently paying your Apple Pay Later loans on time.

• Making payments towards your outstanding loans.

• Improving your credit score.

Currently, we don't support customer requests to increase your approved amount to spend. If you want to make a purchase for a higher amount than you originally planned, you can reapply for a higher loan amount.

Why your credit score is used

Your credit score can be indicative of how you use and pay off debt. Information found in your credit report is used to determine your credit scores, which may include:

• Your history of debt payments.

• Hard inquiries on your credit report from new credit applications.

• The amount of debt you currently have on your credit accounts.

• The age of your credit accounts.

• The amount and type of loan accounts you have open.

• The percentage of available credit you've utilized.

• If and when you had a foreclosure, declared bankruptcy, or had debt sent to collections.

It's common to see varying credit scores when you look at different sources. Credit Karma and other services might display various credit scores, like TransUnion VantageScore. While these scores can be informative, if they're not the same score that's used for your Apple Pay Later application they may not be as predictive of your approval. Your credit report and the timing of when your credit score is updated can affect your credit score.

By law, you're allowed to get a free annual copy of your credit report and file a dispute with Experian if you find an error.

You can get more information about credit scores from Experian.

How credit reporting for Apple Pay Later works

Apple Pay Later loans and payment history will be reported to Experian. Your credit score won't be affected when we start sharing your Apple Pay Later loan and payment history, but might be affected in the future once data is incorporated by credit scoring models, like FICO^®9. Information about your purchase, like the loan start date, loan amount, loan status, outstanding balance, payment dates, and payment history will be shared, which will help to build your credit history. If your purchase is canceled or fully refunded, the loan will not be reported. Apple Pay Later loan information will be available in your credit report. Learn more about how Experian will use this information and how it can affect your credit.

If your application is declined because your identification information couldn't be verified.

Make sure your name, address and other information provided on your Apple Pay Later loan application is correct. If you find inaccurate information, re-enter the information as needed.

If you're asked to verify with a text message, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you recognize the partial phone number indicated before continuing. If you don't recognize the phone number, you might opt to verify your identity with Photo ID verification.

2. Once you receive the One-Time Passcode (OTP) via text message, enter the passcode in the OTP code field in your application to continue.

If you're asked to verify with an ID, follow these steps:

1. Make sure there's nothing between your device's camera and your ID that could obscure any part of it.

2. Check that the Date of Birth, Last Name, and Address on the ID match the information that you entered for your application.

3. Make sure that the ID hasn't expired.

After you complete these steps, submit your application again. If your application is declined again for the same reason, contact an Apple Pay Later Specialist.