“The news that Apple would offer its own “buy now, pay later” service splitting any Apple Pay bill into installments hit the fintech lending world like a thunderbolt. But it turns out the new feature, while simple for consumers, necessitated a bit of backstage reorganizing at Apple, including a whole new subsidiary that will run it…. In order to do it internally, Apple had to form a fully owned but separate subsidiary called Apple Financing LLC, Apple confirmed to TechCrunch after Bloomberg first reported the news today. This company will be doing the actual work of assessing and issuing credit in compliance with the usual requirements and obtain the necessary licenses to work in each regulatory jurisdiction. And of course if everything goes up in flames, only the LLC burns down. It’s important to note that Apple did not get a bank charter for its new Financing LLC — though banks are often lenders, the reverse is not always true. It’s partnering with Goldman Sachs as the Mastercard credential provider rather than take on that role itself, and Pay Later uses the Mastercard Installments program as its basis.”