Zopa bank will acquire DivideBuy’s point-of-sale (POS) finance technology and lending platform, as it puts increased focus on providing embedded finance options, the company has announced.
The transaction will be completed in the next few months and marks the company’s first acquisition. Zopa said it will be aiming to help consumers simply their finances, particularly for larger purchases (£250 – £30,000) through its BNPL 2.0 offering.
Jaidev Janardana, CEO at Zopa, said: “This acquisition helps us bring to life BNPL 2.0, an evolution of BNPL which we believe delivers the easy, integrated product which customers love whilst also addressing some of the issues around affordability and responsible lending which have plagued the sector.
“We are proud to be entering the POS space with DivideBuy, a market-leader with a standout product and technology stack, and a culture that is closely aligned to our values of fairness and customer centricity.”
With DivideBuy, merchants can offer their customers interest free payment options at checkout. Shoppers can spread the cost of their purchases over a 2-12-month period with select merchants, while, the application process gives an instant credit decision without hidden fees.
However, as part of the process several safeguards will be enabled. Zopa plans to offer affordable credit only once it has run credit checks and affordability assessments for all customers.
It also plans to share data with credit rating agencies (CRAs) to give other lenders a full picture of people’s debt positions while it will enable users to build their credit profiles and improve their financial positions.
Since launching in 2020, UK-based Zopa bank has attracted £3 billion in deposits, more than £2bn of loans on balance sheet, and issued close to 400,000 credit cards.
Robert Flowers, CEO at DivideBuy added: “This deal with Zopa will bolster our current product suite to help us take POS finance further, faster – with ethical lending at the core. This approach will ensure we meet upcoming regulation head-on to deliver a BNPL 2.0 that’s better for everyone.”
