Equipifi and Synergent Partner on BNPL Programs for Credit Unions

Equipifi and Synergent have partnered to help credit unions launch their own buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs through their banking apps.

This partnership will offer equipifi’s BNPL platform for financial institutions to Synergent’s credit union customers, the companies said in a Wednesday (Dec. 11) press release.

Synergent is a managed services provider and a strategic host of the Jack Henry Symitar core processing platform, according to the release.

“Members are asking for buy now, pay later options, and equipifi is the right partner for us to be able to offer this critical service to credit unions who already work with Synergent,” Rebekah Higgins, vice president of strategic partnerships at Synergent, said in the release.

The equipifi platform is a white label solution and integrates with leading banking cores and digital banking platforms, per the release.

With equipifi, Synergent’s credit union partners will be able to use their knowledge of their members to extend BNPL offers that meet their needs, the release said.

“The popularity of credit union BNPL programs is driven by members who prefer to access financial flexibility from an institution they know and trust,” Bryce Deeney, CEO and co-founder of equipifi, said in the release.

Thirty-one percent of credit unions plan to introduce BNPL in the next three years, and 18% have similar plans for six years, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and PSCU collaboration, “Growing Credit Union Membership via Lending and Omnichannel Banking Innovation.”

Only 1.5% of the credit unions surveyed currently offer BNPL, the report found.

Equipifi teamed up with Jack Henry in October 2023 to offer a BNPL tool to community and regional financial institutions. This partnership integrated equipifi’s BNPL solution into the Jack Henry digital banking platform so that these financial institutions can provide their cardholders with a BNPL payment option.

In July, equipifi introduced a “pre-purchase” solution called Plan Your Purchase that lets financial institutions offer account holders “flexible financing” before they make purchases. Plan Your Purchase lets eligible account holders take out prequalified installment loans — typically between $500 and $2,000 — from their financial institution.

“There are many moments in an account holder’s lifetime when timely access to small loans makes a big difference,” Deeney said at the time.