Category: Blog

We’re thrilled to unveil our new series, “POS Finance Innovators” in which we delve into the world of point-of-sale (POS) finance through discussions with the industry leaders shaping the future of this space.

In our premiere episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Rolando De Gracia, Chief Commercial Officer of Concora Credit, to kick off our series with an insightful and engaging conversation about the critical role of second-look financing and how it is evolving. With a wealth of experience in the consumer finance industry, Rolando shares how providers and merchants are adjusting their strategies in response to shifting consumer behaviors, economic challenges, and the strategic importance of near-prime solutions.

Watch the video and join the conversation by leaving a comment! Please feel welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn to continue discussing these fascinating insights.

Key takeaways from my conversation with Rolando:

• Second-look financing as a strategic solution
  Rolando highlights how second-look financing bridges the gap between prime lenders and costly lease-to-own products. He explains how revolving lines of credit provide non-prime customers with affordable alternatives to prime loans, enhancing customer satisfaction and driving repeat sales for merchants.
  
• Investing in customers for long-term loyalty
  Rolando shares why leading retailers, including HP, choose Concora Credit as their second-look provider. By consistently investing in advanced tools, technologies, and customer experiences—and fostering partnerships built on positive culture and retail expertise—Concora creates significant value for both merchants and consumers.
  
• “Retail is detail”: building meaningful customer relationships
  Rolando emphasizes that retail is about more than just transactions—it’s about creating meaningful engagements. Success depends on ensuring customers feel valued, whether by offering sufficient credit limits, delivering exceptional service, or providing seamless digital experiences. This focus on relationship-building drives loyalty and repeat business.

We hope you enjoy this interview and gain valuable insights. Stay tuned for more conversations with POS finance innovators!

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About Jeffrey Tower
EVP Global Business Development and Strategy
Jeff has over 20 years of experience driving revenue through building global brand awareness, business development, marketing, and sales departments focused on consumer financing, fintech, and eCommerce.

Money 2020 will take place from 27 Oct to 30 Oct 2024 in Las Vegas.

Are you heading out to Money 20/20? Our team will be on-site and ready to chat about how our Lending Hub helps banks revolutionize their embedded lending solutions through our scalable, secure, and flexible platform.

We invite you to reach out and connect with our team ahead of time!
Meidad Sharon, Founder & CEO

Jeffrey Tower, EVP Global Business Development & Strategy

Nufar Bareket, Global Head of Partnerships and Financial Institutions

Jim Magnuson, Director of Sales And Business Development

Earlier this year, we announced that ChargeAfter was selected as a technology provider for Citi Retail Services’ Citi Pay Family of digital first payment products as well as officially unveiling our Lending Hub platform to revolutionize banks’ embedded lending capabilities.

Money20/20 USA remains the world’s most significant and influential event for the global financial ecosystem, encompassing sectors like banking, payments, technology, startups, retail, fintech, financial services, policy, and more. We are excited to connect with industry leaders and build scalable long-term partnerships.

As consumer demand for financing at the point of sale continues to grow, leading merchants prioritize meeting this demand. To achieve this, they are moving away from a single lender model towards a platform-first approach to provide customers with access to multiple lending options through a seamless and flexible purchasing experience. 

Choosing the right point-of-sale (POS) financing platform is essential as it goes beyond simply processing transactions to play a pivotal role in shaping the customer journey. Offering multiple financing choices empowers customers with financial flexibility and enhances their purchasing power, especially for high-ticket items that might otherwise be out of reach. Consequently, your POS financing platform is a strategic tool to increase approval rates and generate higher sales, while fostering customer loyalty. 

6 crucial factors when choosing the best POS financing platform

1. Omnichannel experience
2. A broad network of lenders
3. Waterfall finance capabilities
4. Easy integration and management
5. Comprehensive analytics and data 
6. White-label capabilities

1. Omnichannel experience

Customers are accustomed to increasingly seamless and personalized shopping experiences. An omnichannel lending approach that covers in-store financing, eCommerce or any other point of sale financing allows customers to access financing solutions wherever they interact with your brand.  Your platform should be embedded at every point of sale be it in-store, online, via a call center, door-to-door, or any other checkout to provide a seamless omnichannel experience.

2. A broad network of lenders

The ideal embedded lending financing platform includes a broad network of lenders. This way your financing offer can cover the entire credit spectrum, and offer diverse financing products, serving B2B and B2C customers and different geographies. A lending network positions you to meet the financing needs of all of your customers, and support them as their needs change. 

The more comprehensive your lender network, the more you are safeguarded against changes made by single lenders. A lender adjusting their credit box, merchant discount rates, or even ceasing operations can leave you and your customers without an alternative. It also puts you in a stronger position to negotiate terms with lenders who are vying for your customer’s business.

3. Waterfall finance capabilities

Waterfall finance technology connects shoppers to multiple lenders according to tier, starting with prime lenders. If an applicant meets the criteria for prime lending, they are approved at that level. If not, the process moves them to near-prime lenders. Finally, if eligibility is still unmet, the applicant is referred to subprime lenders or lease-to-own financing options. Platforms like ChargeAfter streamline this process, leveraging a multi-lender network to enable merchants to deliver personalized financing choices for shoppers in a single application in real-time.

4. Easy integration and management

Integrating a POS platform into every point of sale should be fast and seamless with in-store, eCommerce, in-clinic, in-home, and call center capabilities. Look for a platform that enables quick integration into all major eCommerce platforms, API and SDK kits to personalize and build the online checkout experience, and flexible in-store options.

For example, in-store financing can involve scanning a QR code, using an in-store device at checkout, self-checkout, or sending a customer a link to their device. For e-commerce financing, a platform should be able to support pre-approval applications that can be combined with an in-store visit. By accommodating customers wherever they make their purchases, you make it easier for them to complete their transactions.

For merchants, an embedded lending platform should offer effective post-sales management, including dispute resolution, refunds, and reconciliations. Real-time updates on performance, volume, and order information are essential to optimize lending programs. Direct communication with lenders and tools to track, process, and resolve cases should be standard features of your chosen platform.

5. Comprehensive analytics and data

A superior embedded lending platform will provide actionable analytics and data. A complete view of lending data makes optimizing financing offerings and adapting to shifting market trends possible. With this data at your fingertips, you can plan marketing and retargeting campaigns that build strong customer relationships, enhancing their lifetime and average order value. 

Analytics from your platform should also help you to understand and optimize your customers’ journey, showing you where and when customers drop out and where and when they convert, so that you can easily optimize your lending program within your customers’ journeys and improve your eCommerce website performance. 

6. White label capabilities

A white-label POS system allows you to customize the platform to match your brand identity, increasing customer recognition and loyalty, ensuring a seamless and integrated brand experience across all customer touchpoints.

POS financing: A snapshot of 2023

POS financing trends in 2023 confirm that embedded lending at the point of sale is here to stay. The 2023 holiday season, the busiest time of year for purchasing, saw a 14% increase in payments using BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) compared to the previous year, according to Adobe Analytics data. This trend is backed up by research conducted by Citi Retail Services that showed that 90% of customers want merchants to offer a choice of payment options at the point of sale. 

This shift in consumer behavior underscores why the right POS financing platform is crucial for merchants aiming to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

A snapshot of 2024

A recent ChargeAfter survey found that in 2024 almost half (45%) of retailers reported approval rates below 60%. This is a significant increase from 2023, when only 29% of retailers reported under 60% approvals.
The average approval rate for POS financing applications has dropped from 65% in 2023 to 58% in 2024, leaving over 40% of customers declined at their moment of need, representing a significant potential loss in sales
Whereas last year 12% of merchants achieved at least 80% approvals, this has declined to a mere 2%.
The decline in approval rates is indicative of lenders’ increasing risk aversion amid economic uncertainty. This trend highlights the need for merchants to diversify their POS financing.

Conclusion

Choosing a POS financing platform can be complex, given the broad range of features to consider and the multitude of providers in the market. However, by keeping these five critical factors in mind—omnichannel experience, vast lender network, easy integration and management, comprehensive financing analytics, and white-label capabilities—you’re well on your way to selecting a platform that meets your business needs and enhances your customers’ shopping experience.

About Jeffrey Tower
EVP Global Business Development and Strategy
Jeff has over 20 years of experience driving revenue through building global brand awareness, business development, marketing, and sales departments focused on consumer financing, fintech, and eCommerce.

In recent years, embedded finance has emerged as a transformative force within the financial services landscape. With consumers expecting seamless, integrated financial products directly within their purchasing experiences, banks and financial institutions (FIs) are increasingly recognizing the need to adopt scalable, customer-centric lending solutions. In my previous article, I introduced ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub as a key enabler of embedded finance. In this follow-up, I will provide a more technical deep dive, focusing on how the platform’s breadth of product offerings, streamlined merchant onboarding, and robust infrastructure are reshaping the way banks and FIs deliver lending solutions.

This article is designed to provide leaders in technology, product, and business with a comprehensive understanding of how ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub serves as a technology enablement layer, empowering banks to build closer relationships with both merchants and customers while remaining largely behind the scenes.

A technology enablement layer that brings banks closer to customers

At its core, ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub functions as a technology enablement layer. Rather than acting as an intermediary between banks and their customers, ChargeAfter empowers banks by providing the infrastructure and tools necessary to offer lending solutions directly at the point of need. This technology layer is virtually unnoticeable to the end consumer—a fully white-labeled solution that allows banks to retain ownership of the customer relationship, branding, and product configuration.

By remaining in the background, ChargeAfter enhances the bank’s ability to engage with merchants and customers more intimately. Banks can present themselves as the sole provider of financial solutions, while ChargeAfter’s platform handles the complexities of the lending process. This discreet enablement positions the bank as the hero in the eyes of the consumer, fostering stronger trust and deeper relationships.

A flexible, scalable infrastructure for embedded finance

ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub is built on a flexible, cloud-based microservices architecture designed to scale effortlessly as banks expand their lending offerings. The platform leverages Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for scalability, data security, and disaster recovery. With Kubernetes (Google K8S Engine) automating deployment processes, banks can ensure high availability and rapid recovery, even as their lending operations grow.

This scalability is crucial for banks aiming to deploy lending products across multiple channels, including eCommerce, in-store, and mobile applications. The platform’s infrastructure allows banks to offer a full range of lending solutions, including Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), revolving credit, private label credit cards, and installment loans from a single platform. Banks can easily integrate ChargeAfter’s APIs and SDKs into their existing systems, ensuring fast go-to-market (GTM) timelines for new financial products and their merchants.

MongoDB Atlas serves as one of the platform’s document databases, providing real-time monitoring, automated scaling, and advanced auditing capabilities. This allows banks to manage massive amounts of transactional data securely while ensuring compliance with global standards like PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27018, SOC and GDPR. ChargeAfter’s infrastructure supports seamless scaling, so banks can grow their lending programs with confidence, knowing that their data and operational integrity are protected.

A comprehensive suite of lending products

ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub offers a wide array of lending products, designed to meet the diverse needs of consumers and businesses alike. The flexibility of the platform allows banks to offer customized financial solutions, fully tailored to the unique requirements of each customer or merchant.

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): BNPL continues to be a key driver of consumer spending, allowing shoppers to split their purchases into manageable installments. With ChargeAfter’s BNPL solution, banks can offer flexible payment terms, either through debit/credit cards or card-free loans.
• Long and Short-Term Installments: ChargeAfter’s platform allows banks to provide new lines of credit within seconds, offering short or long-term installment options. Loan terms and eligibility are fully customizable, giving banks control over interest rates, payment periods, and underwriting criteria.
• Revolving Credit: ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub supports instant revolving credit with built-in installment features, enabling banks to acquire long-term relationships with consumers by offering flexible and adjustable credit lines.
• B2B Financing: ChargeAfter’s platform also extends to B2B financing, allowing banks to offer tailored loans and credit lines to business customers. This flexibility opens new revenue streams for banks and expands the scope of embedded finance beyond traditional consumer lending.

All of these products are fully white-labeled, ensuring that banks retain complete ownership of the customer relationship. ChargeAfter acts as the enabler, providing the underlying technology, while the bank appears as the sole provider of financial services.

Streamlined Mmerchant onboarding and integration

A key factor in the success of embedded finance is the ability to onboard and integrate merchants quickly and efficiently. ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub excels in this area by offering a wide range of Plug and Play eCommerce extensions for leading platforms, along with comprehensive API and SDK integrations. This flexibility enables merchants to integrate the Lending Hub into their existing eCommerce, POS, or ERP systems with minimal friction.

The merchant onboarding process is designed to be fast and seamless:

• Merchant KYC/KYB Compliance: Built-in compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) standards ensures that banks and merchants can quickly authenticate their identities and maintain regulatory adherence.
• Sandbox Testing: Merchants can test the full functionality of the Lending Hub within a sandbox environment before going live, ensuring a smooth operational rollout.
• Omnichannel Integration: ChargeAfter supports omnichannel experiences, allowing merchants to offer financing options across multiple touchpoints, including in-store, online, and mobile. This seamless integration ensures that consumers can access financing options wherever they shop.

Once integrated, merchants gain access to a robust suite of tools, including real-time transaction tracking, post-sale chargeback management, and detailed analytics. These tools empower merchants to manage their lending programs effectively, providing a consistent and optimized financing experience to their customers.

Advanced data analytics and business intelligence

One of the standout features of ChargeAfter’s platform is its ability to offer advanced data analytics, providing banks and merchants with valuable insights into customer behavior, loan performance, and operational efficiency. By leveraging Power BI-based embedded analytics, banks can track key performance indicators (KPIs) across the entire lending lifecycle, from loan application to post-sale servicing.

Key analytical features include:

• Real-Time Dashboards: Banks and merchants can monitor system health, transaction data, and customer interactions in real-time, enabling them to make informed decisions quickly.
• Deep Consumer Insights: The platform tracks user behavior throughout the sales process, providing insights into how customers interact with lending products, which offers are most popular, and how well promotional campaigns are performing.
• Operational Efficiency Metrics: ChargeAfter provides detailed reports on the efficiency of lending programs, including approval rates, activation rates, and conversion rates. These insights allow banks to optimize their lending strategies, adjust underwriting rules, and enhance overall program performance.

The platform’s advanced analytics capabilities extend to both banks and merchants, offering full transparency across the lending ecosystem. By analyzing data at every stage of the lending process, banks can continuously refine their strategies, optimize their product offerings, and ultimately provide a better customer experience.

ChargeAfter: Empowering banks while remaining behind the scenes

Perhaps the most significant advantage of ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub is its ability to empower banks without overshadowing their role in the customer journey. As a technology enablement layer, ChargeAfter provides all the tools, infrastructure, and support banks need to deploy embedded lending solutions while staying out of the spotlight.

Banks maintain complete control over their branding, product offerings, and customer relationships. ChargeAfter’s white-label solution ensures that consumers perceive the bank as the sole provider of their financial services, building trust and loyalty. This approach allows banks to enhance their customer-centric strategies while leveraging ChargeAfter’s cutting-edge technology to manage the complexities of lending.

Conclusion

Embedded finance is no longer a trend—it’s the future of lending. ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub provides a robust, scalable solution for banks looking to offer customer-centric lending products directly at the point of need. With its flexible infrastructure, wide array of lending products, seamless merchant onboarding, and advanced analytics capabilities, ChargeAfter enables banks to enhance their customer relationships, optimize operations, and drive sustainable growth.

By acting as a technology enablement layer, ChargeAfter empowers banks to focus on what they do best—building deeper, more meaningful relationships with their customers—while handling the behind-the-scenes complexity of the embedded finance ecosystem. The future of lending is here, and with ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub, banks are poised to lead the way.

About Jeffrey Tower
EVP Global Business Development and Strategy
Jeff has over 20 years of experience driving revenue through building global brand awareness, business development, marketing, and sales departments focused on consumer financing, fintech, and eCommerce.

Merchants are gearing up for Black Friday, which this year falls on November 29. A key focus is meeting the demands of customers opting for omnichannel shopping and alternative payments like point-of-sale (POS) financing. This article explores Black Friday trends and how merchants can enhance the customer experience through POS financing.

Key article takeaways

1. Black Friday 2024 sales are projected to surpass $222 billion. Shoppers using POS financing are expected to spend significantly more than buyers using traditional payment methods.
2. 78% of merchants recognize POS financing as a strategic priority with enhancing the omnichannel customer experience being a top priority. 
3. A seamless POS financing solution should integrate effortlessly across all sales channels. Additionally, it should support a broad lending network and leverage waterfall financing to boost approval rates. The platform should simplify management through real-time data and automated processes.

Key 2023 Black Friday statistics

Despite inflationary pressures, Black Friday consumer spending continues to grow. In 2023:

• U.S. retail sales on Black Friday rose by 2.5% year-over-year. This reflects steady consumer demand across both in-store and online channels, ​(Mastercard).
• U.S. online sales on Black Friday surged to a record-breaking $9.8 billion in 2023. This reflects a 7.5% increase compared to the previous year (PYMNTS).
• In-store Black Friday shopping rose by 1.5% year-over-year. Despite the growth of online sales, most purchases are made in person (Pew Research).  

If these trends continue, we can expect even greater synergy between digital and physical retail experiences. Omnichannel strategies will become essential for merchants to capture shoppers whether they are online, in-store, or combining both.

Credit Bloggers Passion

How POS financing is shaping Black Friday

Black Friday’s sales figures provide insights into the nation’s economic trajectory, consumer confidence, and spending patterns. In 2023:

• The average holiday shopper spent approximately $533. Those who opted for POS financing options spent 48% more than shoppers using traditional payment methods (PYMNTS).
• POS financing usage grew by 72% in the week leading up to Black Friday (PYMNTS).
• According to Adobe Analytics, POS financing on Black Friday 2023 saw a 47% increase compared to 2022 (Business Insider)

These trends highlight the growing importance of POS financing to buyers. They also explain why merchants lean towards a waterfall financing model, which offers choice and personalization to customers.

How to implement the best POS financing solution

Despite the rising demand for point-of-sale financing, many retailers still offer fragmented solutions. This results in a disjointed customer experience and complicates management processes. Recognizing the critical role of financing in driving sales, 78% of merchants state that point-of-sale financing is a strategic priority for the next 12 months (ChargeAfter). When upgrading POS lending capabilities, merchants’ top priorities center around the omnichannel customer experience. 40% prioritize improving in-store functionality and 37% aim to optimize the overall customer journey. To achieve this, they need to find a solution that incorporates the following capabilities. 

Network of lenders

Shoppers expect unprecedented levels of choice, personalization, and convenience. To achieve comprehensive financing at the point of sale, merchants must offer options from multiple lenders. This allows them to cover the full credit spectrum—prime, near-prime, and no-credit-required—while providing a range of financing products, from installments to revolving credit and lease-to-own, across multiple geographies. Additionally, the broader your lender network, the better protected you are from disruptions caused by changes made by individual lenders.

Waterfall finance capabilities

Waterfall financing is a process where shoppers apply for financing with a single application, and are evaluated according to a tiered system to match them with the best-fit financing choices. First, they are assessed by prime lenders, if they are not approved, their application instantly flows to near-prime lenders, and then to subprime lenders or lease-to-own providers. This happens in real-time and ensures more customers have access to financing, leading to up to 85% approval rates.

Simple management and data processes 

Implementing a seamless POS financing solution goes beyond offering diverse payment options—it’s also about simplifying management. Merchants need a solution that integrates effortlessly across in-store, eCommerce, call center, and even in-home environments. Look for platforms that support fast integration with major eCommerce platforms, offer flexible in-store solutions like QR code scanning and self-checkout, and provide API and SDK kits to personalize the online checkout experience.

Additionally, for merchants, real-time updates on financing performance, order information, and customer engagement are essential. A well-designed solution should offer features like automated post-sale management, including dispute resolution, refunds, and reconciliation, as well as data and analytics. This ensures that retailers not only streamline their sales processes but also have direct access to insights that help optimize their financing programs over time.  

Want to talk about POS financing?

About Kevin Lawrence
VP Global Lender Relations – Kevin has worked in the banking and finance industry for over a decade. He has worked closely with some of North America’s largest banks, financial institutions, and retailers. Kevin is an expert in embedded consumer financing and B2B financing. He has a deep understanding of current trends and where the industry is heading.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, the financial services industry is facing a pivotal moment. The rise of embedded finance is transforming how consumers interact with lending products, offering convenience, flexibility, and a more personalized financial experience. For banks and financial institutions (FIs) looking to capitalize on this trend, the key lies in adopting scalable, secure, and flexible solutions that can be integrated seamlessly into their existing infrastructure. ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub represents a significant leap forward in this domain, empowering banks to provide customized, embedded finance solutions at various points of sale.

As leaders in technology, product development, and business strategy, it’s essential to understand how ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub is not only a powerful tool for banks but also a transformative technology for the future of lending. This article explores how the platform addresses the challenges of modern financial services and how it empowers institutions to stay competitive.

The rise of embedded finance in banking

The traditional boundaries of banking are dissolving. Consumers no longer see lending as a separate, siloed function but as an integrated part of their purchasing journey. Whether shopping online, in-store, or on mobile apps, consumers expect financial services to be readily available at their fingertips. Embedded finance allows this by integrating lending products directly into the purchase experience, providing an instant, frictionless way for customers to access credit when they need it most.

For banks, this shift presents both an opportunity and a challenge. On one hand, embedded finance opens new revenue streams and deepens customer relationships. On the other, it requires the right technological infrastructure to deploy these products in a scalable and compliant manner.

This is where ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub comes into play.

What is ChargeAfter’s lending hub?

ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub is a cloud-based, white-label platform that enables banks to offer a full suite of lending products—including revolving credit, installment loans, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), and personal loans—directly at the point of sale. The platform is designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, providing banks with the tools to create, distribute, and manage customized financial products through various channels such as eCommerce, in-store, and mobile applications.

Unlike traditional lending systems that require significant infrastructure investments, ChargeAfter’s platform operates as a plug-and-play solution, allowing banks to get up and running with embedded lending products quickly and efficiently. The system’s microservices architecture ensures that it can scale to meet the needs of even the largest institutions while maintaining a high degree of flexibility.

Key features that set the lending hub apart

• White-Label Solution: ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub offers a fully white-labeled experience, enabling banks to maintain complete control over their branding and merchant relationships. This allows banks to present themselves as the primary financial partner while leveraging ChargeAfter’s robust technology stack behind the scenes.
• Lender Matching Engine: The patented lender matching engine is a critical feature that sets ChargeAfter apart. This engine helps banks match consumers with the most appropriate lending products based on their credit profiles, increasing approval rates and ensuring consumers have access to the best possible terms. For banks, this means higher conversion rates and the ability to serve a broader range of customers.
• Omnichannel Capabilities: One of the biggest challenges banks face today is creating a seamless experience across multiple touchpoints. ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub integrates with eCommerce platforms, POS systems, self-checkout kiosks, and mobile applications, ensuring that customers can access credit anytime, anywhere. Whether a consumer is shopping online, in-store, or through a mobile app, they are presented with tailored financing options at the point of need.
• Pre-Built Integrations: ChargeAfter’s platform comes with pre-built APIs, SDKs, and branded extensions that make it easy for banks to integrate lending products into their existing infrastructure. This plug-and-play capability significantly reduces time-to-market, enabling banks to deploy embedded finance solutions faster than ever before.
• Advanced Analytics: The platform offers a robust suite of analytics tools that allow banks to track performance across their lending programs. From real-time KPIs to deep insights into consumer behavior, ChargeAfter’s analytics capabilities help banks optimize their lending strategies and improve operational efficiency.
• Compliance and Security: As regulations around data privacy and financial services tighten globally, compliance is more critical than ever. ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub is fully compliant with PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and GDPR standards, providing banks with peace of mind that their data and their customers’ data are handled with the utmost security.

Why banks should embrace embedded finance

For banks and lending FIs, embracing embedded finance is no longer a question of “if” but “when.” By integrating lending products directly into the consumer purchase journey, banks can drive higher engagement, boost loan origination, and create more meaningful relationships with their customers.

Furthermore, embedded finance opens up new opportunities for growth. With the right technology in place, banks can expand their reach beyond traditional banking environments, partnering with merchants across various industries to provide tailored lending solutions.

ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub offers the ideal platform for banks looking to stay ahead of the curve. Its combination of scalability, flexibility, and speed-to-market makes it a powerful enabler of embedded finance strategies, allowing banks to not only meet the needs of today’s consumers but also to anticipate the demands of tomorrow’s market.

Conclusion

As embedded finance continues to reshape the financial services landscape, ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub provides a best-in-class solution for banks and financial institutions looking to offer innovative lending products at the point of sale. By leveraging this powerful platform, banks can enhance their customer experience, improve operational efficiency, and drive sustainable growth.

The future of lending is embedded. And with ChargeAfter’s Lending Hub, that future is within reach.

About Jeffrey Tower
EVP Global Business Development and Strategy
Jeff has over 20 years of experience driving revenue through building global brand awareness, business development, marketing, and sales departments focused on consumer financing, fintech, and eCommerce.

As the holiday season approaches, retailers are gearing up to make the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2024. These shopping events have become critical for driving sales, and your strategies can make all the difference in your success. In this article, we share essential insights and actionable tips to help you optimize your approach.

Optimizing mobile experiences

With a significant portion of holiday shopping conducted on mobile devices, it’s essential that your website is mobile-friendly. Fast loading times, easy navigation, and a straightforward checkout process are crucial.

According to MobiLaud, 59% of Black Friday sales came from smartphones, a 55% increase from the previous year. Ensuring a seamless mobile experience can significantly reduce bounce rates and increase conversions, contributing to higher sales.

Leveraging social media for targeted ads

Investing in targeted social media advertising can drive traffic and conversions. Personalized ads resonate more with potential buyers, capturing their interest and encouraging them to visit your site. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer powerful tools for targeted campaigns, allowing you to reach a broader audience and engage with them meaningfully.

Effective social media strategies enhance brand visibility and attract more shoppers during the holiday season.

Ensuring seamless checkout processes

A smooth and quick checkout process can reduce cart abandonment, making the difference between a lost sale and a loyal customer. Streamlining the checkout process involves minimizing the steps required to complete a purchase, offering multiple payment options, and ensuring that the process is secure and user-friendly.

According to SaleCycle, the cart abandonment rate for Black Friday was 76.63%, and for Cyber Monday, it reached 80.25%. A seamless checkout experience can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and encourage repeat purchases.

Offering flexible financing options

Providing multiple financing options can significantly impact customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Shoppers who used a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service spent $598 on average on Black Friday, compared to $452 among those who didn’t use a deferred payment method (PYMNTS Intelligence).

By integrating platforms like ChargeAfter, retailers can offer a variety of financing options, catering to individual customer needs and enhancing the overall shopping experience. This flexibility is crucial during the high-traffic holiday season when shoppers are looking for the best deals and convenient payment methods.

Starting early: the early bird strategy

For the past several years, consumers have shown eagerness to sign up for brand email and text lists around Halloween. They know the holiday season is approaching and don’t want to miss out on sales or inventory announcements. While capturing opt-ins should be a year-round effort, Halloween is an ideal time to ramp up these efforts.

Retail trends show that holiday sales start earlier each year, meaning all product messaging, campaigns, email triggers, and identity strategies should be tested and ready to run by Halloween.

• Website Pop-Ups: Use pop-ups with special offers or sign-up incentives after visitors have been on your site for a certain duration or just as they’re about to leave.

• Influencers: Collaborate with influencers to create unique content that resonates with their audience. Partner for product giveaways or contests to boost visibility and engagement.

• Social Media: Develop engaging content with polls, quizzes, and user-generated content. Create stories and reels on platforms like Instagram and TikTok for limited-time offers or behind-the-scenes looks.

• Paid Ads: Launch retargeting ad campaigns to show ads to users who visited your site but didn’t make a purchase. Use platforms like Facebook to target lookalike audiences, reaching users similar to your existing customers.

Act now to unlock Black Friday / Cyber Monday success

To truly capitalize on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2024, start preparing now. Focus on optimizing mobile experiences, leveraging social media for targeted ads, ensuring seamless checkout processes, and offering flexible financing options like those provided by ChargeAfter. Boost sales, reduce cart abandonment, and create a memorable shopping experience that keeps customers coming back—retailers who use ChargeAfter see up to 85% POS financing approval rates.

Integrating the ChargeAfter platform is seamless and easy, with plenty of time to get set up before the holiday rush. Plus, our merchant portal is packed with powerful data and insights to help you manage lenders effortlessly and supercharge your post-season strategies.

Want to see how ChargeAfter can transform your holiday season sales? Schedule a demo with ChargeAfter today and unlock the potential of personalized financing!

Download the Full e-book: For a more detailed guide on winning Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2024, download the full ebook Winning Black Friday & Cyber Monday in 2024 – A Strategic Guide for Retailers.

For merchants selling to business customers, offering a robust point-of-sale B2B financing offer leads to improved customer acquisition, customer retention, and business growth. Traditionally, retailers have struggled to provide financing options that meet the needs of small and medium-sized business customers, as most B2B financing providers offer net terms that are only suitable for large companies. However, this is changing.

What’s changing in point-of-sale B2B financing

Point-of-sale B2B financing is undergoing a transformation, driven by technological advancements and the emergence of fintech lenders who are addressing the unique needs of SMBs. Unlike traditional financing providers that offer limited and inflexible terms, these new entrants provide more adaptable and accessible financing solutions. SMBs seek terms that extend to 12 months, and beyond. They want to apply and buy quickly with instant credit decisions that reflect their experience as individual consumers. New players such as Credit Key and Tabit present such an opportunity. When integrated into an embedded lending platform, such as ChargeAfter, they enable merchants to seamlessly offer SMBs access to the capital they need to grow and compete more effectively right at the point of sale.

“B2B transactions have many unique requirements including split shipments, customer-specific pricing, invoicing, in-house lines of credit, and flexible payment terms. Combine that with a complex omni-channel experience and manual approval processes that depend on legacy systems, and you have a recipe for a massive delta in customer experience expectations.  Through our partnership with ChargeAfter, merchants can provide the B2C experience that customers expect for their B2B customers in ALL of their sales channels.” James R Wallen, Vice President of Sales, Credit Key

Key B2B lending challenges to overcome

There are specific challenges in B2B financing that make it difficult to provide, especially to smaller businesses. Understanding these complexities emphasizes how valuable it is when retailers get it right.

• Larger and more complex transactions: B2B transactions often involve bulk purchases, customer-specific pricing, split shipments, unique invoice requirements, and integrations to back office and ERP systems.
• Use of traditional credit and financing options: Many businesses rely on familiar, traditional payment options such as Net Terms which are ubiquitous in B2B, overlooking innovative funding solutions, which dramatically increase revenue and share of wallet to the merchant
• Longer risk and compliance assessment processes: Assessing business creditworthiness is more intricate and time-consuming than evaluating individual credit scores. Data that is available to assess risk for small and medium-sized businesses is limited and fragmented leading to long, cumbersome processes to open a new account.

“Business owners expect a seamless customer journey, mirroring their experiences as customers. This includes access to point-of-sale financing solutions suitable for different types of businesses at the point-of-sale.” Elias Beaino, Executive Vice President of Tabit by Merchant Growth.

Benefits of advanced B2B financing solutions

There are many benefits to meeting the needs of SMB customers, they include:

• Enhanced customer acquisition and retention: By offering flexible financing options, merchants can attract more business customers who might otherwise be unable to afford large purchases upfront. This not only boosts customer acquisition but also fosters loyalty, as customers appreciate the support in managing their cash flow.
  
• Increased sales and revenue: With better financing options, SMBs are more likely to make larger purchases, thereby increasing the average transaction value. This translates to higher sales and revenue for merchants.
  
• Streamlined operations: Modern B2B financing solutions often come with integrated platforms that automate and simplify the financing process. This reduces the administrative burden on merchants and allows them to focus more on their core business activities.
  
• Improved cash flow management: For SMBs, managing cash flow is crucial. By using the lender’s funds to purchase inventory, merchants can preserve their working capital for other essential business operations, such as marketing, hiring staff, or expanding their business, ensuring they can maintain operations without financial strain. 

The platform-first approach

The easiest and most efficient way to offer lending options to your business customers is through an embedded lending platform. With a platform-first approach, retailers easily manage their entire point-of-sale financing offer customized for businesses as well as for their individual customers in a single platform. Benefits of a platform-first approach to point-of-sale B2B financing include:

• Fast access to multiple B2B and B2C financing options.
• Exceptional customer financing journey in seconds.
• Centralized management of lending and post-sales activities.
• Embedded regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Customizable point-of-sale checkout with white labeling.
• Enhanced customer and lender relationships.
• Improved approval rates, sales conversion, and order value.

The transformation within the B2B financing sector is driven by the adoption of new technologies, innovative market players, and customer-centric solutions. These advancements streamline processes and introduce greater flexibility and efficiency. Embracing these changes allows businesses to enhance financial strategies, improve customer relations, and secure a sustainable competitive advantage.

About Kevin Lawrence
VP Global Lender Relations

Kevin has worked in the banking and finance industry for over a decade. He has worked closely with some of North America’s largest banks, financial institutions, and retailers. Kevin is an expert in embedded consumer financing and B2B financing and has a deep understanding of current trends and where the industry is heading.