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Sezzle is fine-tuning the buy now, pay later experience with the debut of its Pay-in-2 product. Just as its name suggests, the new product splits transactions into two payments, which can help expand BNPL to new categories, such as grocery, monthly subscriptions, and other high-frequency categories, Sezzle says.
Consumers choosing Pay-in-2 pay 50% of the price at time of purchase and the other half two weeks later. Minneapolis-based Sezzle says the two-payment interval is more sensible for high-frequency purchases than the typical BNPL pattern of four payments over six weeks.
Activity from the new product can be reported to credit-reporting agencies, as can be done with the Pay-in-4 product, if the user enrolls in Sezzle Up, a credit-builder feature.
“Many consumers get paid every two weeks and we believe giving shoppers this option will allow them to better manage their budgets,” Charlie Youakim, Sezzle chief executive and cofounder, said in a statement. “Concurrently, for merchants, offering Pay-in-2 should lead to higher approval rates and increased shopper conversions. It’s a win-win.”
The BNPL market shows few signs of slowing down. As it matures, new BNPL avenues materialize. Earlier this month, Capchase, a funding provider to software-as-a-service companies, launched a BNPL service to enable SaaS vendors to collect the full contract value for their applications with flexible payment terms. Also, Klarna AB recently added a personal shopping feed to its BNPL app. Card issuers, too, want to tap into the BNPL shopping experience, but they face a challenge in that they do not make their BNPL offerings available at the point of sale, as BNPL specialist companies do.
