Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Zip Co Limited announced Tuesday (March 9) it has been named a BigCommerce Elite Partner, offering Zip’s installment payment services to a global network of more than 60,000 merchants.
“With so many options in today’s retail environment, merchants need to be thoughtful about decreasing barriers to purchase for their customers — including providing easy-to-use alternative payment methods at checkout,” BigCommerce Chief Commercial Officer Russell Klein said in a news release. “Zip is a trusted global leader in installment-based payments, and we are excited to welcome them as Elite Partners. Our merchants and their customers will benefit from Zip’s transparent Buy Now, Pay Later financing solutions.”
Operating in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S., Zip provides point-of-sale credit and digital payment services to 5.7 million users in industries that include travel, retail and automotive. The company expanded into the United States last year with its acquisition of rival QuadPay, creating a $1 billion BNPL business.
With the direct integration to the BigCommerce platform, merchants can instantly activate Zip or QuadPay and see quick results.
“Given the resilience and acceleration of the BNPL model globally, Zip and BigCommerce will work together to shape the future of e-commerce, giving merchants on the platform the ability to offer customers a way to make purchases in a way that is fair, transparent and interest-free,” said Zip Chief Commercial Officer Hamish Moline.
Interest in BNPL options has exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, BigCommerce Vice President Mark Rosales said in an interview with PYMNTS last year.
He and others in the digital payments field speculated that BNPL options for consumers will become increasingly common once the pandemic ends. The challenge for companies like Zip and BigCommerce will be making sure customers remain at the center of the experience.