Eye on BNPL: Verifone And Affirm; Uplift and Southwest Airlines; Sezzle’s New Options

Terminal maker Verifone Inc. expanded its buy now pay later options Tuesday through a partnership with Affirm Inc. The deal will enable merchants using Verifone terminals to automatically offer Affirm as a payment option online and in-store. Merchants will be able to offer Affirm’s full range of payment options, including biweekly and monthly payments with interest rates as low as 0%.

Affirm is the second BNPL provider Verifone has partnered with. The company struck a similar deal in late 2020 with Klarna.

For online purchases, consumers select the Affirm payment option at checkout, then choose their payment plan. Approved customers are shown the total cost of their purchase upfront. For in-store purchases, the clerk or consumer chooses to pay with Affirm on the point-of-sale system or at the payment terminal. The Verifone terminal displays a unique QR code for the transaction, which the customer scans with her phone camera and completes the transaction in the Affirm app.

Merchants will be able to implement the Affirm solution through integration of their e-commerce or in-store payment solutions to Verifone’s Cloud Services platform. 

“We predict that the buy now, pay later market will continue to see rapid growth as more consumers use and gain trust in their preferred wallets, and as merchants expand their payment acceptance to cater to consumer demand,” Jeremy Belostock, head of advanced payment methods at Verifone, says in a prepared statement. “Adding Affirm to our existing portfolio of peer-to-peer, cryptocurrency, international payment apps, and BNPL Advanced Payment Method offerings gives Verifone merchants another tool to drive growth and attract new consumers, and the offering complements our extensive line of end-to-end solutions that revolutionize and streamline buying journeys.”

In related news, BNPL provider Uplift has expanded its partnership with Southwest Airlines Co. The airline is running a promotion with Uplift offering 0% interest to customers who book flights to Hawaii through Jan. 24 and pay with Uplift’s BNPL service. Travel must be completed by Aug. 22 to qualify for the promotion.

Southwest’s interest-free promotion is available for purchases as low as $49 one-way and for three- or six-month terms, with no late fees or prepayment penalties. Customers can book one day and fly as early as the next without finishing their payments. Alternatively, travelers can book now and begin their monthly installments prior to taking their trip. 

Jonathan Clarkson, vice president of loyalty, partnerships, and products for Southwest Airlines says in a prepared statement that the airline’s partnership with Uplift will make “travel more accessible, affordable, and rewarding by giving Southwest customers the freedom to travel now and pay over time.”

In another development in BNPL, provider Sezzle Inc. is expanding its long-term financing product through its partnerships with Genesis Credit and Oportun. In addition to Ally Lending and Bread/ADS, Sezzle will utilize Genesis’s and Oportun’s expertise in offering financing for higher-ticket items to a broader array of shoppers. The new long-term financing options offered to Sezzle’s shoppers provide more BNPL options for higher-ticket items, according to Sezzle.