Australian buy now, pay later provider, Openpay Group is launching operations in the US, amid surging investment and market growth across the new retail payments platform space.
Fellow Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup, Afterpay’s surging post pandemic growth has seen it become one of the 20 biggest companies on the ASX, after S&P Dow Jones Indices revealed results of its quarterly review.
Meanwhile, Worldpay’s, Global Payments Report: The pathways of people and payments reveals that payment schemes, such as Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm, are growing at a rate of 39 per cent annually in the UK and will double their market share by 2023.
ASX listed, Openpay focuses on the automotive, healthcare, home improvement, memberships, and education industries; targeting finance-savvy customers in an older demographic who use Openpay plans as a cashflow management tool.
The company says its platform delivers the most flexible plans in the market with durations of 2-24 months, in values in excess of $US15,000.
Openpay also has a B2B offering, Openpay for Business, a SaaS-based platform that allows companies to manage trade accounts end-to-end, including applications, credit checks, approvals and account management in the one system.
Openpay says its US operations are being led by Brian Shniderman, a 32-year veteran in the payments and fintech advisory industry.
“It’s clear that consumers and merchants want and need much more transparent, fair and flexible payment alternatives to traditional credit cards and BNPL options that lack transparency and charge unreasonable rates,” says Shniderman.
The US launch adds to Openpay’s global reach, with the company already operating in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
CEO and Managing Director, Michael Eidel says Openpay will offer both its differentiated ‘Buy now. Pay smarter.’ and B2B SaaS products in the US.
“We are very excited to have commenced the launch of our consumer BNPL and B2B offerings into the US, building on our proven responsible approach, flexible products and focus on industries where we have strong confidence in our ability to deliver a differentiated value proposition,” he says.
In a further boost to the buy now, pay later space, PayPal recently announced a new BNPL option, allowing customers to pay for a purchase in four interest-free installments.