financing options Archives

Introduction

Embedded finance is a growing trend in the finance industry that involves integrating financial services into non-financial customer journeys, and it is now becoming prevalent in both B2C and B2B contexts. Embedded finance options will eventually be the norm for B2C purchases, even for traditionally conducted offline transactions. This trend helps to increase customer engagement and loyalty. As this trend continues to grow, many industries are exploring various embedded finance use cases.

What is Embedded Finance?

Embedded finance allows non-financial companies to integrate financial services or products into their digital offerings, making it more convenient for customers to purchase products and streamlining business processes. This trend has also led to embedded fintech, wherein financial service platforms integrate into commercial or financial service platforms.

In short, an embedded finance ecosystem integrates the various spheres necessary to complete the entire cycle of a financed transaction.

For instance, when a retail customer makes a purchase (in-store or online) and opts to pay for the purchase in installments, three things need to exist;

The Seller – The merchant selling the product or services through the systems they employ. In this case their Point-Of-Sale system.
In embedded finance, this is the ‘Distributor’ or ‘Embedder.’
These are retailers, software companies, and marketplaces – that integrate financial services into their products to benefit their customers.

The Lender – providing finance for the product or services purchased in point #1 for a fee and/or interest, allowing the seller to sell a product with no financial risk.
However, sometimes the ‘lender’ role is also fulfilled by the seller as a second source of revenue by offering loans with interest.
This is the ‘Balance Sheet Provider’ or ‘Financial service provider’: Banks, fintech, and other financial institutions.

And

Technology Provider – configuring and integrating the systems between the seller system and the lender system to create and maintain a seamless transaction
The ‘Technology Provider’ or ‘embedded financing platforms‘ are both experts in the seller technologies and service design and well-versed in the regulations and intricacies of providing financial services. They help stitch the embedded finance ecosystem together. They look at the customer journey to provide processes that are simplified and personalized.

A real world example would be Point of Sales financing whereby:

The retailer would be the ‘Seller’ such as Lenovo

The ‘Balance Sheet Provider’ would be a group of lenders bidding to offer the best consumer financing deal (long term installments financing)

The ‘Technology Provider’, such as ChargeAfter’, enables this transaction to occur by integrating and connecting ‘The seller’ with ‘the balance sheet provider’ in an automated manner, facilitating the transaction efficiently.

Types of Embedded Finance

* Embedded finance, a multi-trillion dollar opportunity, Source: The rise of embedded finance, Dealroom and ABN AMRO Ventures, 2022

Embedded Lending and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)

BNPL is an example of embedded lending. It falls under Point of Sale financing (also known as POS financing). BNPL is a lending option that allows customers to purchase goods or services and pay for them through short term installment loans. BNPL financing is usually offered by fintech companies.

Point-of-sale (POS) financing is an umbrella term that describes a variety of embedded lending methods and products. These include BNPL but also pay over time for longer and bigger purchases, as well as 0% APR, revolving line of credit, lease-to-own, and more.

Point-of-sale loans like these are gaining popularity and have become essential in improving the user experience and driving customer loyalty through repeat purchases.
According to a 2022 article by The Ascent, 56% of consumers surveyed in 2021 have used a buy now, pay later service, this is up from 37% in July 2020*

* https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/buy-now-pay-later-statistics/

Increasingly, Point-of-sale loans are integrated with online e-commerce websites as well as in-store.
Well-known big retail brands such as Best Buy, Costco,, Target, Walmart, and countless others recognize the value in offering various embedded consumer finance options in their online channels and stores with an omnichannel experience. Many of these big brands opt to integrate with consumer financing platforms such as ChargeAfter instead of developing their own.

ChargeAfter’s omnichannel multi-lender platform is designed to support merchants by providing various financing options to consumers and businesses. The platform is pre-integrated with more than 30 leading lenders, enabling merchants to offer multiple financing options using a single application directly on their e-commerce website or retail location. The platform allows for a quick financing approval process, with up to 85% of financing approvals completed in less than three seconds.

ChargeAfter’s embedded financing platform is designed to offer shoppers various financing options, regardless of their credit history. The platform offers 0% APR, open lines of credit, short and long-term installments, card installments, lease-to-own, and B2B financing options.

There are many examples of well-known retail brands that offer embedded financing and BNPL at the point of sale. Below are some examples:

Jerome’s Furniture:

showcases its financing options already at the homepage, allowing customers to prequalify for financing offers.

In addition they embed the financing offer within the PDP:

42photo.com

Presents a promo pop up with the financial offer – welcoming any customer to to choose business financing

embedding the Point of Sale financing as part of a seamless checkout process:

Digital Wallets Integrated into Mobile or Online Platforms

Digital wallets allow customers to store and use digital currency to make payments or transfers, manage their financial accounts and track their spending. They can also be linked to traditional bank accounts or credit cards, providing a seamless and convenient way to make transactions. Examples of digital wallets include Apple Pay and Google Wallet.

Some of Apple’s partners, to name but a few, include Best Buy, Disney, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s, Walgreens, Costco, Target, and Taco Bell.

Google Pay also facilitates payment with Best Buy and other distributors.

Loyalty programs with digital or store credit rewardsLoyalty programs that offer rewards or cashback in the form of digital currency or store credit allow customers to earn and use rewards or cashback within the platform or service they are already using. For example, credit card companies or retailers may offer rewards or cashback through loyalty points redeemed for discounts or other benefits.A familiar example of a loyalty program is the Star Bucks Rewards.

Conclusion

Embedded finance has arrived and is making its way into the finance ecosystem. The trend will continue to grow throughout all verticals of business and service providers, and more industries will adapt to it. By integrating financial services or products into their platforms, merchants can offer a more seamless customer experience while streamlining their back-end processes. With the advent of omnichannel lending, including POS financing and BNPL, the future of B2C and B2B financing at the point of sales looks bright.

Furniture industry research specialist Dana French conducted the Consumer Insights Now research, which was released in September and was co-sponsored by ChargeAfter. The consumer finance study highlights customer behaviors across age groups (18-74). The primary goal of the research was to identify customer preferences and trends which would provide furniture sellers with useful information.

The survey provides data on how buyers often use consumer financing in a variety of ways. The research’s results include the kinds of goods they want to purchase, how they intend to finance such purchases, and how the furniture fits into their overall shopping list.

The research gives furniture retailers all the information they need to know about customer trends right now. For both new and established retailers looking to offer the precise services that customers want, the data may be of tremendous assistance. Especially when the study displays a variety of consumer behavior statistics.

The study emphasizes once more how essential consumer financing has become to our daily lives and how it affects every significant purchase made by a customer. Numerous survey results show that younger customers are more inclined to utilize consumer financing in their everyday life which is evidence that retail finance has become popular in recent years.

The survey’s findings could help retailers understand the value of customer financing in the furniture industry. It may be a signal for them to introduce additional buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) loans or POS financing alternatives.

The results of the survey also revealed which age group is the most significant group of consumers and which of them must be the primary category of potential customers. As a result, the data may be used by retailers to create a precise marketing strategy for upcoming sales and ensure that customers will have access to the financing choices they require. When properly applied, research may boost sales and conversion rates for shops.

How Consumers Plan To Pay

According to the chart above, different age groups have different plans for how they will make their payments, or use consumer finance solutions. Although the numbers for customers who use credit cards and those who prefer to pay with cash are practically identical, we can see that younger groups are slightly biased towards cash payments. Due to their familiarity with traditional banking services and installment payments, older generations are more inclined to utilize credit cards for payment.

In contrast, younger Millennials and Gen Z tend to choose Buy Now Pay Later services from financing platforms when it comes down to consumer financing options available to them.. There are two potential causes for this. Namely, younger consumers may like BNPL since it offers superior services and the benefit, occasionally, of no interest charges, or are often unable to qualify for credit cards because they do not yet have a solid credit score. Similar considerations apply to cash payments, which are often made from savings accounts and are more frequently made by older generations.

Are Consumer Financing Options And Promotional Terms Important To Consumers?

Promotional terms are significant to 49% of customers overall for home goods, whereas financing options are important to 43% of customers when we compare how financing choices and promotions trigger the purchase for the consumers. The younger generations of Gen Z are the only age group, as shown in the table above, that is more likely to make a purchase when the shop offers financing choices at the point of sale. However, this is not true for other age groups. Only 27% of Baby Boomers believe that financing alternatives at the store are the reason to make a purchase, according to the lowest numbers for consumer finance.

Though the comparison is close across practically all age groups, younger generations are more influenced by both possibilities and are more likely to purchase as a result. As we can see, promotional conditions are an excellent instrument for boosting sales and luring customers. Conversely, the businesses that choose to use both of the proposed solutions will succeed the most and draw in the most number of customers.

As shown, the Consumer Insights Now consumer finance survey provides the exact data and facts furniture retailers require to develop effective new tactics and know which consumer financing solutions to use.

References:

Consumer Insights Now research, Home News Now (September 11, 2022) Consumer Insights Now: Research highlights consumer buying behavior in the second half

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