Amazon and Chase Bring Installments to Amazon Pay

Amazon and Chase say they have expanded their equal monthly payments offering for card members.

The companies announced Tuesday (Aug. 15) that Prime Visa and Amazon Visa cardmembers can now use the installment payments offering outside of Amazon’s website and mobile app.

“Amazon is always looking to offer customers more choice and convenience when it comes to paying for their order,” Omar Soudodi, director of Amazon Pay, said in a news release emailed to PYMNTS.

“We’re excited to offer the millions of Prime Visa and Amazon Visa cardmembers the option to split their payments across six or 12 months at 0% interest when shopping with Amazon Pay,” Omar said. “What’s more, Amazon Pay merchants now have yet another way to seamlessly reach new customers, offering them more choice and convenience in how they pay.”

According to Amazon, the expanded program lets cardholders use the equal monthly payment offerings on purchases of $50 or more at tens of thousands of retailers, including Lenovo, Tennis Express and Authentic Watches.

The expansion is happening at a time when installment payment offerings show continued popularity among consumers, as PYMNTS research has found.

As noted here last month, offerings like buy now, pay later (BNPL) will likely see a broader embrace as a favored payment option as consumers face increased financial pressures.

“We’ve seen this since the start,” Sezzle CEO Charlie Youakim said in a recent interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.

“Budgeting is top of mind … and BNPL is a budgeting tool,” he said.

Research by his company and PYMNTS found that most consumers don’t see BNPL as a credit product, but as a way to manage cash flow.

“At a high level, the same principles apply no matter if a consumer’s mulling BNPL or taking out a credit card for the very first time,” PYMNTS wrote. “We’re all conscious of the time value of money (i.e., there’s a benefit to be gleaned from paying for something tomorrow and not today).”

Earlier this year, Amazon Pay teamed with Citi to offer Citi credit card members the ability to pay over time using the bank’s Flex Pay, and marks the first time members could use Flex Pay through a digital wallet.

“Customers want flexible payment options and merchants want to offer that flexibility but don’t always have the resources to do so,” Soudodi said at the time.

The partnership, he added, “is a win-win for both customers and merchants — customers have a new, convenient way to pay for their purchases and merchants can seamlessly offer new and existing customers more choice, affordability, and flexibility in how they pay.”