FIRST Digital Finance Corp. (FDFC), operator of card-free “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) platform BillEase, announced last Tuesday its new partnership with Shopify Inc., allowing its merchants to add BillEase at the payment-app checkout.
A statement from FDFC read that online retailers can now offer the BillEase suite of BNPL solutions in 10 days to 30 days, pay in four installments or pay monthly, as Shopify merchants now accept payments made through the FDFC platform.
FDFC Co-Founder and CEO Georg Steiger expressed in the statement he is “excited to partner with Shopify and offer this faster integration as we constantly look for ways to improve not only shopping experience but also the user experience for our Shopify merchants.”
“Any merchant can now easily incorporate our card-free BNPL solution at their checkout to boost their conversion rate,” Steiger was quoted in the statement as saying.
In January, the startup company raised some $11 million in fresh equity that it will use to “further expand and develop products, double its engineering team and attract top talents.”
The round is led by BurdaPrincipal Investments Ltd., the growth capital arm of German media and tech company Hubert Burda Media and a backer of Carsome, Ninja Van and Zilingo, the company said.
Other investors in the funding round include Centauri, a joint investment vehicle of Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures and KB Investment and backer of Kredivo, 33 Capital from Singapore and Tamaz Georgadze, CEO and co-founder of European fintech unicorn Raisin DS, Europe’s leading marketplace for online deposits and investments.
“The Philippines is expected to be the fastest growing e-commerce market in the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region over the next five years,” FDFC Co-founder and CFO Ritche Weekun has said. “The country is fast becoming a red hot destination for venture investments as large funds start looking beyond Indonesia and this, in turn, is driving the rapid development of the ecosystem.”
“The events over the last two years have increased the pressure on the fintech space, in particular, to evolve and we’re seeing growing demand for financial products,” Weekun added. “Our latest round of funding will help us grow at an unprecedented pace, allowing us to further increase financial inclusion in the country.”
At the intersection of e-commerce, payments and credit, BNPL services, especially card-free apps, are emerging as key e-commerce enabling technology.
“BNPL services often rely on card payments. In the Philippines, less than five percent of the adult population owns a credit card and cash on delivery remains the primary mode of payment. To address this problem and expand the target market, we developed our proprietary credit, fraud and payment stack,” Steiger has said. “While this requires more upfront investment, we are actually solving a more fundamental problem for customers and allow us to create long-term relationships.”
FDFC launched BillEase in 2017 “to provide merchants with installment solutions to boost their conversion rate and average order values by enabling customized installment payment products at checkout.” For consumers, BillEase serves as an alternative to credit/debit cards and e-wallets when shopping online. The FDFC platform is currently partnered with more than 500 online and offline retailers.