What happened: British electronic retailer Currys has partnered with BNP Paribas to upgrade its buy-now-pay-later offering (Finextra). Currys had previously already offered a BNPL product and it was used for approximately 20% of all purchases. In fact, Currys’ customers have used it’s BNPL product more often than a credit card. This has led the retailer to upgrade its offering and partner with BNP Paribas. With the new partnership, customers get more flexible in choosing the right payment plan and the payment option is available for a wider range of products.
My comment: It was probably an easy decision for Currys to upgrade their BNPL product after realising that the payment method has been used for 20% of all purchases. The partnership with BNP Paribas is a strong move, since it opted not to work with one of the big consumer brands in BNPL but rather build their product offering. I assume a a big brand like Currys has the resources and customer trust to pull this off. It might not work that easily for smaller merchants. But a brand like Currys, especially with their previous learnings, will likely see a substantial positive impact on their revenue.
