PayPal launches buy now, pay later in Australia

PayPal announced it is launching a buy now, pay later service to Australians as it tries to catch up with the likes of Afterpay and Zip.

The new service will be available for purchases of $50 to $1500 from businesses around the world. As a win for Australian businesses and what is seen as a competitive edge, PayPal will not charge an additional fee for businesses to use its new service.

• PayPal Pay in 4 rolls out to over 9 million PayPal Australia accounts by early June 2021
• Interest-free for consumers and no extra cost to existing PayPal business customers
• Available at hundreds of thousands of Australian and millions of global businesses at launch
• Buy now, pay later option appears behind the PayPal ‘button’ (within the PayPal wallet)
• Eligible consumer purchases with PayPal Pay in 4 benefit from PayPal’s Buyer Protection. Businesses benefit from PayPal’s advanced fraud protection.

PayPal today announced the launch of PayPal Pay in 4 in Australia. The new buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution is designed to give consumers greater choice and flexibility in how they pay and help businesses adapt to changing consumer expectations. PayPal, which has over 9 million active accounts in Australia, will roll out the BNPL solution to its Australian customers in early June 2021, ready for use by the End of Financial Year Sales.

PayPal Pay in 4 will be accessible to consumers in two ways. When a consumer pays using the standard PayPal ‘button’, it will appear at checkout in the PayPal wallet as a payment option. Businesses can also present PayPal Pay in 4 as a distinct payment option on their website. As PayPal Pay in 4 is a payment option in the PayPal wallet, it will be available for consumers to use at hundreds of thousands of Australian, and millions of global businesses[i], where PayPal is accepted.

The trusted security and protections offered by the PayPal platform will apply for transactions made using PayPal Pay in 4. Eligible purchases will be covered by PayPal’s Buyer Protection, meaning that if a product does not arrive PayPal can refund the full purchase price, including delivery. Businesses will benefit from PayPal’s advanced decisioning process to prevent fraud while underwriting shoppers and they will be covered by PayPal’s Seller Protection for eligible transactions.

PayPal Pay in 4 provides an interest-free [ii] buy now, pay later solution to consumers at no additional cost[iii] to PayPal business customers, beyond their existing account arrangements.

Andrew Toon, General Manager, Payments, PayPal Australia said: “Australian consumers are looking for more choice and flexibility and PayPal Pay in 4 gives them yet another way to purchase securely using PayPal. PayPal’s digital wallet is the only solution that provides multiple ways to pay all in the one place – instantly with debit or credit card; 21 days later with our Pay After Delivery option; and now in four interest-free instalments using PayPal Pay in 4.

“Our Australian business customers have been requesting buy now pay later functionality from us, and we’re excited that we can offer PayPal Pay in 4 to them at no additional cost.

“Shopping habits are changing at an unprecedented rate and during the pandemic we saw more than two million Australians start shopping online for the first time[iv]. We will continue to support Australian businesses of all sizes to adapt to rapidly changing consumer behaviours by evolving our service to meet their needs.”

For PayPal business customers, PayPal Pay in 4 is automatically included with PayPal Checkout integrationⁱⁱⁱ and Braintree integrations that use PayPal’s latest JavaScript Software Development Kit.

With a single integration, PayPal business customers can also add PayPal Pay in 4 messaging to their site, so consumers are aware of their flexible payment options. PayPal Pay in 4 messaging will dynamically show the individual instalment amounts based on what the customer is browsing or purchasing so consumers will know what each payment will be. This dynamic messaging can be presented early in the shopping journey, delivering relevant, in context pay later options from the homepage to product pages, to checkout.

For PayPal consumer customers, PayPal Pay in 4 allows them to split eligible purchases from $50 to $1,500 over four equal, interest-free instalments, with automatic re-payments drawn every two weeks. No fees are charged when payments are made on timeⁱⁱ.

PayPal business customers and partners can learn more about PayPal Pay in 4 and register their interest on the PayPal Australia website.