PODCAST | How you can buy now and pay later with no strings attached

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking at how consumer behaviour and indebtedness are being helped by start-ups using the “buy now, pay later” model.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by PayJustNow CEO Craig Newborn and Mark McChlery, chief data and analytics officer.

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PayJustNow says its buy now, pay later business model offers a healthy alternative to the usual credit terms to which SA consumers have become accustomed. Newborn explains that their service allows online shoppers to pay about 30% for an item at checkout, the difference being guaranteed by PayJustNow to a merchant or retailer. The shopper can then pay the remaining balance at a later date.

The service works by assessing the creditworthiness of a consumer in a very short space of time using the company’s artificial intelligence platforms. McChlery says the system simultaneously checks a number of data points such as the type of card being used, LinkedIn and other professional information, in about 10 seconds. The system also cross-references the information it gathers with one of the large credit bureaus.

Newborn says the business model is one of the factors helping to increase adoption of e-commerce by fearful consumers. A first-time online shopper can, for example, buy shoes worth R1,500 online, use PayJustNow to pay R500 immediately, receive the product, try on the shoes and settle the full amount once satisfied with the deal.

The company says it now has 40,000 users, having processed R24m in transactions so far.

PayJustNow has recently branched out of the online realm to now offer an in-store service that uses QR codes to process payments.

The team also discusses how the company makes its money, the evolution of the business model, ways in which data is being used to improve the system, other firms doing similar business, PayJustNow’s entry into physical shops, the future of consumer retail and an outlook for the economy.

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• Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE production.