Visa expands ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ payment solutions in EMEA

Visa – the global leader in digital payments that processes more than 65,000 transaction messages a second around the world – is expanding its ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) offerings to meet consumer demand.

Visa’s technology is used by a growing list of issuers, acquirers and fintechs.

A recent study conducted by Visa found that nearly half of all global consumers (42%) expressed interest in installment financing on their existing credit card or one they could apply for.

To help partners meet this demand, Visa Installments Solution is being deployed globally to make BNPL options available in-store and across ecommerce platforms.

The network-based solution allows financial institutions to add BNPL as a customised feature for credit card holders on already approved credit lines, while acquirers can enable installments for any retailers that accept Visa.

First launched as a pilot in 2019, the solution has expanded to Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Russia and the US.

In Russia, Visa has partnered with Home Credit Bank and Russian Standard Bank.

Visa is also working with Cybersource, FIS, Global Payments and TSYS, a Global Payments company, in several markets across the globe to enable the Visa Installments Solution.

Visa already supports leading BNPL fintechs including Afterpay, Klarna, and SplitIt.

Recently, Visa announced that Klarna has signed a global deal with Visa to accelerate its expansion and scale in several markets.

Visa's Buy Now Pay Later solution offers choice for consumers

“For years, Visa has been enthusiastically embracing BNPL for the same reason we pioneered revolving credit, debit and prepaid decades ago: because it expands choice and convenience for buyers and sellers alike,” said Mary Kay Bowman, SVP and global head of payment and platform products, Visa.

“If shoppers prefer a BNPL fintech solution, we are here and enabling it; if they want an option from their banks, we’re helping offer those too.”

“At HSBC we strive to bring new and innovative solutions to our customers. We are excited to partner with Visa and be the first bank outside North America to launch the Visa Installments Solution, starting in Malaysia; announcing our entrance in the digital Buy Now, Pay Later space,” said Madhu Kejriwal, Group Head, Unsecured Lending & Partnerships, HSBC Wealth & Personal Banking.

“This feature facilitates point of sale purchases for HSBC Visa credit card customers when they shop with partner merchants, by allowing them to split payments into monthly instalments at no additional cost and no credit application. We look forward to continuing to innovate with Visa, including delivering on our global BNPL strategy.”

“We are very pleased to partner with Visa on BNPL,” said Craig O’Neill, CEO of Versapay. “As a payment facilitator, we were able to seamlessly onboard merchants into the Visa program, and as the BNPL market matures, we see this becoming an attractive offering for business to business commerce, an area Versapay intimately knows and serves well.”