UK FinTech Ecospend, Car Repair Payment Platform Bumper Team on A2A Payments

Open banking payment provider Ecospend has launched a new marketplace payment solution for car repair-focused BNPL platform Bumper that will help connect customers with car dealers, a press release said.

Because of partnering with Ecospend, payments will be able to be split between Bumper and thousands of local partners supplying the motor parts, with additional benefits for security and payments technology.

The “Pay-by-Bank” option will start a direct bank transfer with prepopulated payment details including those from Bumper, to cut down on human error and provide an “efficient and cost-effective” way of redirecting payments between customers and merchants.

James Hickman, Ecospend CCO, said it will also give Bumper a way “to significantly reduce card transaction costs while minimising the chance for card fraud and chargebacks” using Ecospend’s biometric technology.

“The benefits that this can bring to both Bumper and its clients are far-reaching, and we are excited to help them reach the next step in their payments journey,” he said. “With each open banking payment being authenticated using customer biometric IDs, the solution is incredibly secure as well as efficient.”

Meanwhile, James Jackson, Bumper CEO and founder, said the partnership will allow the company “to improve and evolve our service,” adding that Ecospend would “provide a safe and secure method of payments for our customers.”

PYMNTS spoke to Jackson earlier this year, and he said the disruptions from the war in Ukraine had shown the difficulties in how car manufacturing would play out going forward. But he said this had only made for more demand for repairs for older cars that people already own.

Read more: Bumper CEO Says BNPL ‘More Relevant Than Ever’ as EU Used-Car Demand Hits Record Highs

He said Bumper’s ability to provide ways to split up payments for repairs in Europe has been more needed in recent months, due to various financial pressures.