BNPL Provider Openpay Launches In US

Openpay, an Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, has officially launched in the U.S., according to a press release.

BNPL refers to the practice of allowing customers to pay for goods in installments, usually four smaller increments. The purpose is to allow for people to afford items that might otherwise be too costly.

Openpay focuses on “industries where it can make a real difference,” the release stated, going on to list the healthcare, automotive, home improvement and education sectors.

The target customers, according to the release, are “finance-savvy and of an older demographic who use Openpay plans as a cashflow management tool.”

In addition, Openpay has a Software-as-a-Service (Saas) platform called Openpay for Business, which helps companies manage trade accounts end-to-end, the release stated.

Michael Eidel, CEO and managing director of Openpay, said in the release that the U.S. launch is “possibly the most significant announcement” in some time for the company.

“We are very excited to have commenced the launch of our consumer BNPL and B2B offerings into the U.S., 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 said, according to the release.

Openpay also operates in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

In February, Openpay signed a deal with Australian grocery retailer Woolworths to work more in the B2B space, PYMNTS reported. The deal let Woolworth’s access an end-to-end capability, meaning it could handle applications, credit checks, approvals and account management all on one platform.

Openpay’s B2B work has shifted the direction of the company somewhat, with more focus on the SaaS aspect of the business as it moves forward. Eidel, according to PYMNTS, said Openpay for Business is intended to expedite the digitization of several business processes that are currently manual and could be done more efficiently.