Visa this week announced it is collaborating with Moneris, a joint venture between the Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal that specializes in payment processing, on its buy now, pay later solution (BNPL), Visa Installments.
Launched by Visa Canada in June 2021, Visa Installments lets purchasers convert the cost of qualifying purchases made using an eligible credit card into smaller, equal payments made over a defined period of time.
As part of this partnership, any participating Moneris merchant will able to offer installment payment options to eligible Canadian credit cardholders on qualifying purchases. Moneris says it is scheduled to begin offering Visa Installments to its customers in spring 2022.
“We’re embracing buy now pay later at Visa Canada because it measurably expands choice and convenience for buyers and sellers alike,” said Brian Weiner, vice-president and head of product and digital, Visa Canada. “We’re excited to work with Moneris to provide more Canadians with a flexible buy now pay later solution through Visa Installments.”
Visa’s recent research (Visa & Growth from Knowledge Survey, September 2021), conducted across seven markets including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Russia, the U.S., and the U.K., showed that interest in installment plans is high and outpaces current adoption in all countries tested, underscoring the strong opportunity for BNPL usage.
The research also showed that when BNPL solutions are available at the checkout, retailers also benefit from an increase in spending and see more shoppers completing their purchases. A third of Canadian consumers (35 per cent) say they would not have made recent purchases if BNPL was unavailable.
Visa says it is stepping up to meet this demand by continuing the rollout of its Installments solution globally, with a growing list of issuers, acquirers, and fintech companies. In Canada, it is working with CIBC, Desjardins Group (Desjardins), Scotiabank, i2c, and Equinox Payments to enable the solution.