German FinTech Unzer enters BNPL market with new product launch

By Gloria Methri

Unzer, the German FinTech offering payment and commerce solutions has launched its new buy now, pay later (BNPL) product. Under the name “upaylater“, Unzer is integrating invoice, installment payment methods, and direct debit into its product portfolio via a single interface.

This makes it easier for merchants to meet customers’ demand for BNPL services. In the future, the company looks to expand its market share in BNPL services.

Unzer is not new to invoices, installments, or guaranteed direct debit, having offered all three payment methods in their basic forms for over 10 years. However, the company has now combined the knowledge, data, and technology together into a new offering.

Unzer has added installments and invoices to its available point-of-sale payment methods, enabling retailers to offer consistent shopping experiences both online and offline (“unified commerce”). Each transaction runs via a platform that synchronises sales, product, and customer data seamlessly and in real-time.

A responsible risk assessment protects consumers from over-indebtedness. Based on various parameters such as date of birth and address, Unzer checks the identity of customers for even the smallest purchases in real-time and prevents fraud. Anyone who has missed payments, has outstanding invoices, or exceeds a certain amount of receivables must pay for a purchase in full before they can use further BNPL services. In this way, both merchants and customers benefit from Unzer’s access to a wide range of payment options.

Robert Bueninck, CEO at Unzer, explained, “Unlike most of our competitors, Unzer does not target end customers. The entire customer relationship remains with the retailer. This also means that we don’t use customers’ data to offer them other products. Unzer wants to be a pioneer in the field of responsible invoice and installment purchases. That is why we anticipate potential regulation when we design our products.”