Finastra Launches BNPL Alternative Tool

British FinTech Finastra has debuted an embedded customer lending product, a solution the company says provides access to “traditional regulated lending options” for customers at point of sale (POS).

“For end consumers, Finastra Embedded Consumer Lending aims to make the buying process as frictionless as possible,” and provide an alternative to buy now, pay later (BNPL), “which is often not applicable to high-value purchases,” the company said in a Thursday (June 30) news release.

Read more: Finastra, Microsoft Form BaaS Partnership for Small Business Lending

The platform also gives merchants access to a variety of lenders and their products, while financial institutions (FIs) can use it to access distributors and merchants.

“Finastra’s Embedded Consumer Lending solution offers financial institutions a direct route to growth by offering loans via a merchant’s digital point-of-sale,” said Jeannette Kescenovitz, senior director, solution management, banking as a service and orchestration at Finastra. “The solution builds connectivity and relationships between financial institutions and the distributor organizations that embed lending solutions at merchants’ point-of-sale.”

The company adds that the solution is integrated with Finastra’s lending and origination core systems and lets FIs process POS loan applications, with tools like identity verification, decisions, facilitating e-sign, along with well as account creation and funding.

The platform is hosted on Microsoft Azure. In April, Finastra joined forces with Microsoft on a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) project designed to offer new lending options to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), “a sector severely underserved when it comes to accessing finance,” the company said. SMBs using Microsoft Dynamics 365 can access financing offers without leaving their business management platform.

See also: One in Five US Consumers Use 7 Different Payment Methods in Stores, Restaurants

This latest offering comes at a time when “very diversified consumers” — that is, those using multiple payment methods — are on the rise, according to recent PYMNTS research. These consumers accounted for 18% of the people we surveyed, using around seven methods of payments, such as PayPal, gift cards and buy now, pay later (BNPL).