Apple teams with Ant Financial, banks for interest-free iPhone financing in China

Apple has teamed up with Chinese payments giant Ant Financial Services and several local banks to offer interest-free financing, its first such move in the country as it looks to boost waning smartphone sales.

The US technology behemoth issued a rare revenue warning last month citing weaker iPhone sales in China, one of its most important markets, where consumer spending has taken a hit due to a slowdown in economic growth.

On its China website, Apple is promoting the new scheme, under which customers can pay 271 yuan (US$40) each month to purchase an iPhone XR, and 362 yuan each month for an iPhone XS. Customers trading in old models can get cheaper instalments.

Users buying products worth a minimum of 4,000 yuan worth from Apple would qualify for interest-free financing that can be paid over three, six, nine, 12 or 24 months, the website shows.

The 64GB versions of iPhone’s XR and XS models sell at official sticker prices of 6,499 yuan and 8,699, respectively.

Apple is offering the plan through Huabei, a consumer credit service run by Ant Financial, operator of Alipay and an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, Apple’s China website shows.

Apple and Ant Financial declined to comment on the scheme. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.