The ambitious fintech venture backed by Walmart is planning to launch buy now, pay later loans as soon as next year, three people familiar with the matter said. That could put the world’s largest retailer in competition with fintech lenders like Affirm and Klarna, as well as Apple, another consumer giant set to launch its own installment loans.

Walmart has been pushing deeper into financial services with a majority-owned joint venture that’s hoping to expand by targeting Walmart’s 1.7 million employees in the U.S. and its vast number of existing customers. Offering installment loans would be the latest phase of that growth, following the introduction of checking and savings accounts and debit cards.