Afterpay has some more competition, with PayPal announcing the launch of its new buy now pay later product this morning.
PayPal Pay in 4 can now be used at checkout across hundreds of thousands of Australian and millions of global online stores.
Almost unheard of five years ago, recent research commissioned by PayPal found that today nearly all Australian online shoppers (96 per cent) are aware of BNPL – however over half (55 per cent) say they have not used BNPL yet. Late fees are a key reason, with 50 per cent of Australian online shoppers saying they would not use a BNPL service with “high late fees”.
Tommy Suffren, PayPal’s Consumer Insights Expert, said: “We’ve seen clear demand from consumers for an easy, secure BNPL service in Australia with no late fees, and we’re responding to that demand.
“From today, Australians will be able to access a huge range of goods and services online from millions of businesses and pay for them in interest-free instalments using PayPal Pay in 4. We’re providing Australians with peace of mind knowing they can use a buy now, pay later service on PayPal’s secure platform and will be covered by our Buyer Protection policy for eligible purchases, without the risk of being penalised for late payments.”
The same trusted security and protections which Australians have come to know and expect from PayPal are available for eligible purchases made using PayPal Pay in 4. This includes PayPal Buyer Protection – meaning Australians are covered should something go wrong with their eligible purchase, such as if it doesn’t arrive, is faulty or counterfeit.
While BNPL has become a popular payment option, security is still a key consideration for many Australians, with PayPal’s research revealing that almost three in five online shoppers (60 per cent) would abandon a BNPL purchase if they had security concerns.
Customer experience and ease of use are also important to Australian online shoppers, with more than half (53 per cent) saying they would abandon a BNPL purchase if it was too difficult to use or if the initial sign-up process took too long (50 per cent).
PayPal’s new BNPL service allows shoppers to split the cost of eligible purchases between $30 and $1,500 into 4 interest-free payments consisting of an initial down payment and 3 fortnightly instalments.
