The news: Eligible Synchrony cardholders will now be able to pay with the issuer’s Pay Later option directly in Apple Pay, per a press release.

• Synchrony’s Pay Later plan offers both Pay in 4 and Pay Monthly options.
• This capability will be available to Preferred, Plus World, and Premier World Mastercard users.

The card issuer plans to expand it across its portfolio of co-brand credit cards. It’s also planning to let eligible cardholders view and redeem their rewards directly in Apple Pay later this year.

How we got here: Apple Pay started partnering with BNPL players like Affirm shortly before shutting down its in-house Apple Pay Later offering. At the time, Apple said it planned to offer card-linked installments from Synchrony, Citi, and Fiserv.

Apple Pay has since added Klarna as a BNPL option as well.

Why this matters: This tie-up can make Synchrony’s Pay Later options much more widely available both in stores and for mcommerce purchases, boosting Synchrony’s BNPL volume.

And the rewards integration will help make Synchrony a more competitive issuer. Discover already has the same partnership with Apple Pay, and we expect other issuers to follow suit.

Our take: This tie-up with Apple is a win for Synchrony. Both features can boost cardholder satisfaction, especially after they go live for the issuer’s co-brand and private label cards, given they make up the majority of its portfolio.

The features could also make Synchrony a more attractive partner for retaining and attracting private label and co-brand cards—including potentially with Apple itself.

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