Merchants say BNPL increases sales by 20%-30% and average order value by up to 50%. BNPL solutions for B2B customers continue growing by providers including Plastiq, Mondu, and Billie. Retailers hope researchers are right with research showing higher holiday shopper usage of BNPL. In South Africa, Payflex expects increased holiday shopping spending.
In BNPL company news, PayZen raises $20 million for healthcare BNPL while Vagaro launches Vagaro Pay Later for beauty and wellness businesses. Afterpay booked Expedia to boost BNPL travel business. The TurnKey Pay Later platform automates the consumer and commercial buy now pay later process bringing it in-house for lower costs. In Australia, government regulations are looming.
Retailers say BNPL boosts sales; consumers say it keeps them coming back
PYMNTS research found that in the past year, 50 million consumers across the United States have leveraged this payment option that splits purchases at the point of payment into several smaller installments. Customers complete more sales and have higher ticket sizes when using BNPL. Experts estimate that BNPL options increase the likelihood of a sale by 20% to 30% and boost the average ticket size up to 50%. Both estimates mean massive revenue increases for the merchants offering these options. PYMNTS
“Buy Now, Pay Later” lenders spot a new market: Small businesses
In response, payment providers are extending the BNPL model into the B2B space. These companies include Plastiq, Mondu, and Billie, all of which now offer BNPL solutions for both B2C and B2B customers. Not only is the average B2B payment larger than the average B2C transaction, but Statista estimated in 2018 that the global business payments market is $125 trillion, more than double that of the global consumer market. Investopia
Buy now, pay later services are hoping for a big holiday season
Retailers are hoping there will be a flurry of buy now, pay later activity this holiday shopping season, with the headwinds of high inflation and a looming recession causing shoppers to seek new financing options. Deloitte found as many as 37% of users plan to use BNPL. Marketing firm Vericast shows at least 21% of holiday shoppers say they’ll use BNPL, while Bankrate found one in 10 users intend to do so. Modern Retail
Buy now pay later users expect to double spend
More than 90% of South African buy now pay later (BNPL) customers plan to spend more online this festive season than last year, while 78% plan to shop on Black Friday according to a survey of more than 1,600 customers by Payflex, South Africa’s largest BNPL provider. “Our customer base has more than doubled since 2021 to over 450,000 customers, so we expect Black Friday Payflex spend to more than double this year,” says Paul Behrmann, Payflex founder and CEO. Gadget
PayZen raises $20M for healthcare buy now pay later
PayZen, which offers buy now pay later services to the healthcare industry, has raised $20 million in equity. The funding round was led by 7wireVentures and brings the company’s total equity raised to $40 million. In addition to the equity, the payments company received $200 million in a warehouse credit facility from Viola Credit. PayZen aims to make healthcare more affordable, leveraging data and AI to create individualized patient payment plans. Fintech Global
TurnKey Pay Later – Customer finance platform enables businesses to bring BNPL in-house
TurnKey Pay Later platform automates all consumer and commercial buy now pay later process for product and service providers and lenders. The solution package comes with configurable credit scoring, integrates seamlessly into the checkout process, and provides buyers and team members with well-designed cloud-based portals. Business owners’ control over the BNPL process ensures better returns on technology investment, higher customer lifetime value and a streamlined digital customer experience. Globe Newswire
Vagaro partners with Certegy to launch Vagaro Pay Later
Vagaro and Certegy, a leading ACH payments and risk management company, today announced their partnership for Vagaro Pay Later, a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service that will allow more than 70,000 Vagaro beauty, wellness and fitness businesses to offer payment installment options to their 20 million-plus clients on the platform. BusinessWire
Afterpay partners with Expedia for BNPL on flights, hotels
Travelers can now book up to $2,000 worth of flights and hotels on Expedia using Afterpay, as buy now, pay later services creep into more parts of consumer spending. Afterpay, the BNPL service acquired by Block Inc. earlier this year, announced the new partnership with travel booking service Expedia Group. Travelers can finance their purchases by making four no-interest payments across six weeks. The launch comes as other services say they see record demand for BNPL for travel purchases and as travelers become increasingly budget-conscious. Modern Retail
Crackdown on Afterpay and other buy now, pay later services
Australians wanting to use a “buy now, pay later” service like Afterpay or Zip could soon require a thorough financial check similar to getting a credit card. It’s one way the federal government is considering an overhaul of the system to protect customers from getting into “debt spirals” due to the interest-free credit system that has few checks and balances in place. Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones said the payment method was operating outside of “normal” credit laws and landing “a lot of people into hot water.” The Australian