Frasers Group launches new BNPL product with Tymit

Three months after raising £23m in a Series A funding round with Frasers Group, Tymit is launching a ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) product with the British retail group.

Frasers Group is currently finalising plans for its new “Frasers Plus” brand, which will lend customers up to £2,000, as first reported by the Telegraph.

The new BNPL offering will give customers the option to pay in three, interest-free instalments over three months at a number of shops, with the option to extend up to 36 months with interest.

Customers who use the BNPL service will also get points for each pound they spend which can then be put towards rewards, as the group reportedly looks to replicate the success of Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme programme. 

A city source told the Telegraph that Frasers Group CEO Mike Ashley is “really excited about credit” and believes the retailer’s “bottom line could be boosted”.

“As many more consumers rely on checkout finance, building a retail finance solution is a plausible next step to better manage brand reputation and convert more clicks to purchases,” Divido CEO Todd Latham commented.

 “In today’s economic climate, more are turning to alternative financing options to spread the cost of high-ticket items.

“For merchants, this means they need to reassess what payment options they have at checkout and ensure it aligns with their current brand image, and clearly provides the right information to ensure consumers understand the repayment model.”

There will be two main products through Frasers Plus – the at-checkout BNPL option for customers to pay over time with Frasers Group covering the cost, and the ability to take out a loan through the app to be spent across the group’s retailers.

Frasers Group became a ‘major minority’ investor in Tymit in October, which will now facilitate the BNPL payments, and Studio Retail, which it acquired out of bankruptcy, will facilitate the consumer loans.

The BNPL offering is currently available at House of Fraser, Cruise, Missguided and I Saw it First, with more stores coming soon, but with a steep 29.9 per cent APR interest for payment periods over three months.