SEATTLE–The booming growth of buy now, pay later (BNPL) solutions has received a major boost, with Amazon announcing it has entered into a partnership with Affirm to allow customers to pay for their purchases in installments.
For credit unions, all the activity in the space creates more installment loan options for consumers that may go to other providers.
Affirm said Amazon customers would be able to use its service on purchases of $50 or more — including items like furniture, home goods, electronics and fashion — and pay in monthly installments. The company said that once approved, customers will be able to see the total purchase price upfront — and they won’t be charged any late or hidden fees,
The service is being tested with select customers now, according to Affirm, and will become more broadly available to shoppers in the coming months. Certain purchases, including those from Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh and certain digital purchases like movies and books, will not be eligible, Affirm stated.
“Amazon is always looking to add flexible payment options, and Affirm does just that by offering transparent pay-over-time solutions that customers can choose based on their needs,” a spokesperson for Amazon said.
Rapid Growth
As CUToday.info has extensively reported, including here buy now, pay later solutions have proliferated quickly, especially in online shopping portals, but also at point of purchase.
Apple is also among the companies reportedly preparing to offer a BNPL solution, and the payments firm Square recently agreed to purchase BNPL provider Afterpay for $29 billion.