Some business professionals tend to have an aggressive approach to their competition. However, Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) CEO Max Levchin claims that he has somewhat of a more balanced approach.
In statements shared with Yahoo Finance, Levchin explains:
“I think one lesson I learned over the years is you gotta focus on yourself.”
With Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) latest announcement of an integration between Apple Pay and Affirm’s payment plan product, this key development effectively positions Affirm to meaningfully compete with Klarna.
While Levchin clams he’s a supporter of competition, at the end of the day “you’re ultimately competing with yourself.”
He also emphasized:
“I think one lesson I learned over the years is that … on the day that you are having a good day… [things] could flip…you are not trying to show someone up, you’re trying to go faster.”
As recently reported, Apple is planning to discontinue its buy now, pay later service (called Apple Pay Later) just a year following its launch in the United States. The tech giant will rely on firms who presently dominate the sector such as BNPL Fintechs Affirm and Klarna.
It appears to be an acknowledgement from a firm known for introducing widely-used products that launching a financial services unit from scratch as Apple has been doing for a number of years is quite challenging and extremely competitive.
Apple Pay Later had been introduced back in March 2023 as a way for iPhone clients to split up their purchases of up to $1,000 into four equal payments without having to pay extra charges or interest.
The service was Apple’s response to the rising adoption of buy now, pay later services and considered a potential threat to Klarna, Affirm and other BNPL providers.
However, Apple Pay Later had only been offered where Apple Pay was accepted. Meanwhile, the other BNPL services had extensively integrated their products into numerous merchant sites.
Notably, Apple stated at its developer’s conference this month that it may begin permitting banks to provide BNPL plans to their clients via Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
Affirm may be integrated directly into Apple Wallet, and Apple clients may open an Affirm account directly this way.
Apple stated recently:
“With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S. Our focus continues to be on providing our users with access to easy, secure and private payment options with Apple Pay, and this solution will enable us to bring flexible payments to more users, in more places across the globe, in collaboration with Apple Pay enabled banks and lenders.”
Apple execs suggested that the tech giant still had plans for Apple Pay Later even though they confirmed their intentions to integrate Affirm directly into Apple Wallet.
Apple Pay Later was an interesting product since Apple needed to launch its own bank to provide the loans.
The Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs. This basically means Goldman actually determines who is approved and what spending limits are set for each client.
As clarified in the update, Apple has now discontinued Apple Pay Later loans, however, clients who have existing Apple Pay Later loans are still able to manage them via Apple Pay.