By Jeff Domansky, April 13, 2021
It’s getting crowded in the buy now pay later (BNPL) marketplace, but hustle and innovation can differentiate a newer entrant over the more prominent players.
New York-headquartered Splitit showed that competitive edge with its announcement of a new partnership with China’s UnionPay International, the world’s largest debit and credit card network with nine billion cardholders.
UnionPay will integrate Splitit, making its BNPL service available to credit cardholders and more than 55 million merchants accepting UnionPay in 180 countries.
“The cooperation with Splitit is a remarkable milestone for UnionPay to further deepen its cooperation with partners in the south Pacific region,” said Jiangtao Jian, General Manager, UnionPay International South Pacific branch. “We’re excited to bring this partnership with Splitit to UPI customers globally so they can benefit from increased flexibility in how they pay.”
BNPL and Splitit growing fast
CB Insights recently estimated that buy now pay later services in the US alone will reach $1 trillion in sales by 2025.
A recent survey by PaymentsNEXT identified more than 150 BNPL companies now operating around the world. Consumer and merchant interest in installment payments are growing quickly in the Asia-Pacific region, with 20 already operating in Australia, Singapore (10), Indonesia (8), India (7), and another 11 in neighboring SE Asian countries.
“Partnering with UnionPay opens up our solution to UnionPay credit cardholders, building on our existing card partner networks. It combines our unique installment solution and global reach with UnionPay’s powerful cardholder base to allow countless more shoppers to use their existing credit better,” said Brad Paterson, CEO of Splitit.
“The partnership is another significant milestone in Splitit’s Asia-Pacific expansion strategy to boost consumer adoption and merchant acceptance. This increased relevance to more cardholders and merchants will, in turn, accelerate our merchant sales volume,” Patterson said.
Splitit’s unique BNPL offer
In the installment payments business, Splitit stands out from its competitors by using available consumer credit instead of opening new credit lines for interest-free point-of-sale loans.
“We differ from other buy now, pay later vendors who issue new credit for purchases. We are the only provider to enable installments on UnionPay credit cards, allowing consumers to use their existing, available credit on their current credit cards and spread those payments over time with no fees or penalties. We provide a flexible platform for merchants to offer installment payments to customers using Visa, Mastercard, and now UnionPay,” Patterson noted.
UnionPay has over 150 million of its cards issued outside mainland China, and Paterson expects Splitit will create new interest in installment payments by customers across the Asia-Pacific region.
Both current and future merchants and customers will benefit from Splitit’s ability to allow any UnionPay card authorized for international transactions to use installment payments among more than 1,400 merchants in over 30 countries where Splitit is now accepted.
Splitit is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under ticker code SPT.
Recent buy now pay later industry stories on PaymentsNEXT include:
Affirm plans debit card with buy now pay later feature
Buy now pay later for billion-dollar elective healthcare market