Buy now pay later

[DanLiv]

Yeah, and what's the difference between swiping a card once or twice, from a consumer standpoint? They can always challenge the charges. It's the cash-pay patient (that extinct species) that has exposure.

One swipe could be this month's bill, the second on next month's. Big difference for some people.

From a consumer standpoint... swiping a card once verses twice only makes a difference if they are at the end of a billing cycle. For instance, if they get a $900 pair of glasses and half is on this statement and half is on the next month. I have no problem with that. No problem getting half and half.

drk's Payment in Full discussion https://www.optiboard.com/forums/sho...ayment-in-full has turned on to something I've been thinking about recently, buy now pay later (BNPL). With costs everywhere being forced to rise (including eyewear), and with multiple-pair complete eyewear solution plans we are designing for our customers, we are noticing more people unable, unwilling, or delaying fulfilling all their vision needs. If we had more flexible payment options I think at least a few of those customers would be able and willing to fulfill their eyewear plans.

We do have CareCredit, which is a fine service, but it's still just traditional credit. Those who need it can't get it, those who can get it don't need it, and others are just scared of more credit. We could definitely leverage it more by explicitly offering it to everyone ahead of their visit so they can consider it ahead of time and even pre-qualify, but the old fashioned unsexiness of that system is unappealing to buyers, and an unmotivating pitch by my staff.

So I'm looking at buy now pay later options. The "soft" check that supposedly doesn't affect credit score might help, but it's still a credit application like CareCredit (though I think these services have lower score threshholds because their target demographic is the under-credited). Fees can be complex, both for customer and merchant, and I'm sure most of us have heard of unsavory and predatory billing practices employed by some of these services. I like the idea of BNPL, but these concerns have kept me away.

I did find an interesting one Splitit. Instead of extending credit it uses a customers existing credit card and splits a charge into a monthly installment payment plan, for no extra fee to the buyer and a moderate fee to the merchant (a bit higher than CareCredit). The advantage is no new credit, so zero credit check, and no separate biller to pay, just their normal card bill.

Does anyone have experience with BNPL or other payment plans for large purchases in their business? Has it helped your customers get what they need instead of postponing or omitting solutions?