Australia’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup Afterpay has introduced a virtual card solution for in-store payments, the company said in a press release on Monday (March 29).
Afterpay’s virtual card offers people the ability to spread payments across four equal installments without incurring any fees or interest, whether users are shopping in physical stores or online. The Afterpay card can be created through the app and stored in a smartphone’s digital wallet. Customers can also use the Apple Watch to access and use the Afterpay digital card.
“Over the past five years, we have built a strong in-store offering, with tens of thousands of merchants currently offering Afterpay in-store in Australia,” Nick Molnar, CEO and co-founder of Afterpay, said in the release. “The new Afterpay virtual card, which will sit in a customer’s digital wallet, is an evolution of our offering, making it even easier for millions of our Australian customers to split their in-store payments in four installments without incurring interest — ever.”
In-store payments comprise 22 percent of Afterpay’s business in Australia and New Zealand. The new virtual card that can be used at physical stores removes any merchant costs associated with integrating in-store support, giving consumers more shopping options.
“We are committed to continually innovating our product and finding new ways to be more accessible to our customers and add increased value to our merchant partners,” Molnar said.
A PYMNTS research project in February about BNPL showed that 17 percent of consumers used the installment payment method for electronics and 10 percent used it for home furnishings. In an interview with Karen Webster, Molnar said that Afterpay has seen an uptick in U.S. growth in the past two years. Afterpay now processes 15 percent of all online retail and claims 30 percent of the millennial demographic as monthly users of the service.
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