New Zealand’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Fintech Laybuy has acquired A$35m in capital in order to expand business operations into the UK markets.
Laybuy‘s latest investment round has come as part of a private placement and will be used to make additional investments into enhancing its technology stack, marketing efforts and HR.
Laybuy MD Gary Rohloff stated:
“The opportunity in the UK market should not be underestimated. The UK has a retail market approximately 2.2 times larger than the Australian market in terms of overall spending. It is also a market where a higher proportion of retail spending is online, and where BNPL is still in early stages of adoption.”
Rohloff added that UK consumers spent over £151 million via Laybuy during the last year, which represents an increase of 504% compared to the previous year.
Laybuy’s latest investment round has been finalized as the company secured key merchant partnerships with Rakuten, AWIN and Sovrn, which should give customers access to more than 5,000 UK merchants (reportedly includes major brands such as Asos, Nike, Marks & Spencer, Amazon and eBay).
As covered last year, interest-free BNPL Fintech Laybuy had teamed up with the UK’s WHSmith in order to offer convenient payment plans.
Customers are be able to buy products now, and will receive their purchased items right away, and can then make weekly installments without having to pay interest.
The firm says it doesn’t charge interest and works with multinational credit bureau Experian, in order to establish what it considers responsible and reasonable credit limits for each customer.
Rohloff had stated last year that his company is looking forward to working with WHSmith and he’s sure their customers will “really value Laybuy’s innovative payment plan.”
Rohloff added (last year):
“Consumers are always looking for more flexible payment options and Laybuy provides exactly that, whilst being totally interest-free.”
Laybuy’s BNPL platform aims to be a risk-free platform for merchants, who receive up-front payments and only need to pay a small commission when users buy something. Laybuy’s management had noted that it will take all of the credit risk involved for the weekly payments.