Interest-free financing no longer offered by Apple in Canada

AppleInsider

Apple has killed off Canada's last option for interest-free financing of iPhones, Macs, and more.

Financing an iPhone in Canada costs more

Canada doesn't have access to Apple Card or other financing options like iPhone Upgrade Program, but Apple customers did have a zero-interest finance option for a time. PayBright offered a zero-interest finance option in Canada as a subsidiary of Affirm, but that option is now gone.

According to an Apple webpage, Affirm has taken over as the finance provider and interest rates apply. When purchasing an iPhone, interest rates are set to 7.99% over 24 months, while iPad and Mac are set at 4.99% over 12 months.

Apple provided an example for how interest would affect the final price when buying an iPhone. If an iPhone costs $1,099, the customer would pay $93.79 over a 24-month period if minimum payments of $49.70 were made.

This isn't an ideal situation for customers in Canada and shows how Apple's lack of financial offers outside of the United States can affect sales. Apple Card launched in 2019 and still isn't available anywhere outside of the US.

This story was first shared by MacRumors' own Canadian resident Joe Rossignol. The lack of financial options is a clear sticking point for Apple's fanbase, as responses to a Reddit post has shown.

Apple hasn't made any moves to change how financing works in the US beyond a slight change to how it sells unlocked devices online. Apple Card and iPhone Upgrade Program, along with a plethora of carrier financing options, give customers plenty to choose from when buying a device.

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mknelson

That offer was somewhat predatory - Apple's Canadian reseller partners could never afford to compete. I'm kind of surprised Apple gets away with it in the US.

Scot1

This is disappointing news as we were looking at to iPhone 15 and two upgraded Apple Watch is this fall. 

Disappointed Apple.

Anilu_777

Canada always gets screwed. We have financial institutions - there’s no reason Apple can’t partner with one to operate its iPhone Upgrade, Apple Card/Cash and other programs here. This is ridiculous!

nubus

Why subsidize those that can't afford a product? Sounds like socialism on check-out. This is transparent pricing and allow buyers to find financing if they need it without other consumers paying for their behaviour.

chutzpah

nubus said:

Why subsidize those that can't afford a product? Sounds like socialism on check-out.

Interest free credit is socialism?   

Are credit cards socialism too?   

kurai_kage

I know right?  That would mean Apple Card would have socialistic tendencies given its month of free interest, and interest minimization approach to payments.  Some people can afford things if they don't need to pay a lump sum all at once.  In the old days you saved up for stuff, but that isn't the modern approach.  Companies that offer interest free short term credit make it easy for a range of customers to afford their products.  This lets a customer buy higher-end gear, rather than something much cheaper that they can pay the lump sum on.  It is a win for both the company and customer.

FileMakerFeller

In Australia, "interest-free" schemes make their money by charging a fixed monthly fee for the duration of the loan. Technically, since it's a flat fee not correlated to the loan amount it doesn't count as interest - but that's a semantic difference, since it's possible to compare the amount of the monthly fee to the amount being borrowed to pay for the goods. And what do you know, if the loan isn't paid off according to schedule there's an interest rate charged that's basically the same as any other credit card but it gets back-dated to the start date of the loan.

This might mean Apple sees a dip in sales in Canada, but the upside is that people who can't afford to spend the money now have one less way to fool themselves into spending more than they should.