There are massive technological revolutions and disruptions in payment options around the world. One of such disruptions is the BNPL schemes. This new wave of payments is taking the world by storm; in fact, the latest growth our payments space has experienced is the BNPL scheme. The world, including Africa, is experiencing the emergence of many BNPL firms, especially across the e-commerce sector. BNPL is actually an abbreviation that stands for Buy Now, Pay Later, also known as BNPL. The scheme allows customers to divide payments into instalments with companies (or sellers).
In the words of Edlyn Cardoza “Buy Now, Pay Later is revolutionising the way customers make purchases online and even in-store by making payments more flexible and convenient for shoppers.” Basically, the BNPL scheme is a financing model that allows customers to make purchases for which they will complete the payment at a future date. In other words, a purchase is accepted from a buyer at a rate below his or her present purchasing power to be completed at a future date. BNPL schemes have helped many Africans acquire basic assets ranging from mobile phones to home appliances. The system also benefits the sellers by increasing their sales revenue and potential for more profit.
According to reports, BNPL in Africa was expected to reach $7.18 billion in 2022. The combined growth projection for Africa and the Middle East, according to Yahoo Finance, is 26.6% on annual basis to reach US$12.6 billion in 2023. Thus, Africa represents a significant growth opportunity for BNPL service providers.
11 MOST POPULAR BNPL SCHEMES IN AFRICA
SWIPE
Swipe is a Nigerian BNPL firm that can help you purchase items on credit and pay later in up to six installments. Swipe can help you manage expenses, offer a salary advance of up to 50%, and grant you access to funds on your credit card to meet your organizational needs when you’re registered with them. Their mobile app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play.
Shahry
Shahry, launched in 2019, is an AI-powered mobile credit card that is experiencing exponential growth by granting access to credit to unbanked Egyptians. Positioned as a buy-now-pay-later app for goods, Shahry is Egypt’s only fully digital lending solution that ensures seamless credit application without delay.
According to Edlyn Cardoza “Shahry is also Egypt’s only startup funded and partnered with a regulated bank, allowing them unlimited access to financing and industry expertise to build a radical and innovative FinTech platform.”
Lipa Later
Lipa Later Group is an Africa giant when it comes to BNPL; the leading Kenyan FinTech platform that started in 2018 is fully present in other African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria. One of the company’s key focuses is to empower African businesses to do more via e-commerce, financial inclusion, and shopping on a centralised and fully integrated platform.
Lipa Later didn’t stop at changing the consumer credit landscape across the African continent but is also catalysing the future of shopping, e-commerce, and payments.
PROXALYS
Proxalys started in 2020 in Dakar, Senegal. Proxalys is a digital banking platform with a focus on providing credit services in West Africa. Their services include mobile payments, including BNPL, digital credit, and money transfers, simplifying the financial lives of entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises.
ASPIRA
Aspira is another Kenyan BNPL provider that has helped and is still helping many Kenyans to live the life of their dreams. With Aspira, Kenyans can buy products now and pay later by installment. The BNPL offered by Aspira is available for furniture, mobile phones, new home appliances, electronics, IT gadgets, and even family holidays.
EASYBUY
Transsion Holdings, a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer and distributor, is the parent company of Easybuy. Easybuy was launched in 2019, and it’s arguably the most popular BNPL platform in Nigeria that has helped many Nigerians acquire new phones. You can download the Easybuy app on Google Play or App Store. The app has seen over 1 million downloads since its launch.
In their own words, “in EASYBUY, we pay for your new phone; all you need is to come with the following:
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
- Customer who has a regular and stable income. The customer needs to provide one of the four following ID Card Information：
- National ID
- Driver License
- Voter Card
- International Passport
- Personal BVN (Bank Verification Number).
- An effective bank card with a minimum balance of N30 is required for binding and verification. ATMs are activated for online use.
- Four active contacts.” Speaking further on sales distribution, here is what Easy Buy Nigeria said: “Easybuy mobile installment business currently covers more than 2,000 stores in Nigeria. Support for all mobile phone models, with more than one million users.We launched financial services and enjoyed the new mobile experience ahead of time. We have more than 2000 salespeople dedicated to serving you.” If you are looking for a BNPL scheme to use, EasyBuy might be a great pick.
FLOAT
Float is a South African BNPL platform that allows you to shop thousands of products across furniture, sports equipment, luxury fashion, and much more. Float prides itself as “BUY NOW, PAY WAY LATER” platform; honestly, this is true as they offer up to a 24-month payment period with no interest, no fees, no extra credit, and no catch. The floating-pay later option is extraordinarily flexible.
PAYJUSTNOW
In 3-equal interest-free instalments, payjustnow offers you a rad new way to pay while you shop online in South Africa’s stores. Payjustnow is constantly partnering with many brands to increase the number of stores so as to give the best to their customers. Launched by South Africans for South Africans, the BNPL platform is a “risk-free” way to pay over time. How this works is simply by
taking the following steps: First, you have to browse the online stores of your choice and proceed to check-out; second, you’ll choose payjustnow as your secure payment method; and lastly, create your account and complete your purchase. Their mission statement, which they termed “just cause,” lies in their unwavering vision to deliver a better way to pay. So if you are looking for a BNPL scheme that can
enable you to shop online and pay later, Payjustnow remains a great pick for you.
ValU
EFG Hermes Holdings, a trailblazer in the financial sector with a universal bank in Egypt and a leading bank franchise in frontier and emerging markets, established ValU as one of it’s subsidiaries in 2017. Since its launch, ValU has remained a leading BNPL platform, not just in Egypt but throughout the entire MENA region, offering upto 60 months of convenient and customisable financing plans across more than
6,000 points of sale and over 1,500 online stores with a diverse array of categories. The ValU app is available for download on the App Store, Google Play, and AppGallery.
Sympl
Sympl is an Egyptian BNPL platform established in 2021. With no interest, application fees, or any hidden fees. Sympl offers eligible bank card holders the opportunity to pay later while shopping online, as well as walk-in customers, without any application process or documents required.
In other words, the platform enables sellers to sell their products and services directly to bank cardholders on a short-term, interest-free payment plan. Sympl strategy helps customers cultivate a better management approach to financial expenses, which also fosters a saving culture in the long run. Sympl achieves this by offering a short-term interest-free payment plan, which may be in three, four, or five payments on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis.
RwandAir Ticket, Fly Now, and Pay Later: RwandAir is the national flag carrier of Rwanda, operating both domestic and international flights across East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. RwandAir offers a very unique BNPL scheme that allows people to make payment by installment for the flight tickets, especially if they’re needing to travel urgently and aren’t financially prepared to pay for their tickets in full upfront. With payment options such as Tabby, Afterpay, Klarna and PayPal Credit, among others, you can make repayments on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. Note that different repayment terms are available depending on the currency you’re paying with, the payment plan you’ve chosen, and the country in which you reside.
DISADVANTAGES OF BNPL SCHEMES
BNPL schemes are offering exceptional services to a lot of people, especially in the event that they do not have enough cash at hand; however, it should only be used with caution. You need to have a clear source of income to repay the service rendered, the goods purchased or the money borrowed to prevent embarrassing situations. Some of the disadvantages of BNPL schemes are as follows:
- Your sensitive personal information, e.g., BVN (for Nigerians), could be shared with authorities, and you may be banned from enjoying further loan services.
- Some BNPL schemes give extra charges for defaulting with additional days of grace for repayment.
- Certain BNPL providers are known for sending character-damaging text to the contacts their customers provided in the event of non-payment of loans received.
- Some BNPL schemes usually sends a warning message to defaulters to pay up or face extension of
their loan. Such messages sometimes have a negative emotional impact on defaulters.
Every schemes comes with their own uniqueness; so also is BNPL scheme, The scheme has, in no small measure, impacted Africans positively, as some people are able to get electronic gadgets of their choice, furniture, access loan packages that succour them during challenging situations, etc. The BNPL schemes should have been without any form of disadvantage if customers are meticulous in playing their own part. But it is unfortunate that some people deliberately want to frustrate the kind gestures of the BNPL scheme providers, which in turn makes the schemes take bold steps to address such issues when they arise.
So, while we enjoy the BNPL schemes, we should help them serve us better by displaying commitment in repayment of loans.
There you have it: the top 11 most popular BNPL schemes across the African continent. Feel free to tell us of your experience as you patronise them.