Zopa acquires BNPL DivideBuy

The digital bank has made its first acquisition as it takes a step towards “BNPL 2.0”.

Zopa has acquired ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) platform DivideBuy in its first-ever acquisition.

The push into the $7.2 trillion embedded finance space comes just a few weeks after Zopa raised £75m – and “markedly enhance[d]” its unicorn status – to kick off a year of mergers and acquisitions.

According to Zopa, the move will increase its revenue by at least 20 per cent as it moves towards its vision of a “BNPL 2.0”.

“This acquisition helps us bring to life BNPL 2.0, an evolution of BNPL which we believe delivers the easy, integrated product which customers love whilst also addressing some of the issues around affordability and responsible lending which have plagued the sector,” Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said.

 “We are proud to be entering the POS space with DivideBuy, a market leader with a standout product and technology stack, and a culture that is closely aligned to our values of fairness and customer-centricity.”

Janardana sat down with AltFi to discuss the bank’s first push into BNPL last June, where he said he does not see BNPL “overall eclipsing” credit cards, but explained there is something consumers like about point of purchase financing.

Now Zopa is coming together with DivideBuy to offer customers credit on larger purchases between £250 and £30,000.

DivideBuy gives its merchants the option to offer customers interest-free payment options at point of sale spread across anywhere from two to 12 months.

“DivideBuy's mission has always been to help make life more affordable. This deal with Zopa will bolster our current product suite to help us take POS finance further, faster - with ethical lending at the core,” DivideBuy CEO Robert Flowers said.

“This approach will ensure we meet upcoming regulation head-on to deliver a BNPL 2.0 that's better for everyone.”

Zopa said the BNPL product will give consumers access to affordable credit with “clear protections in place” following confirmation from the Treasury earlier this week that the sector is set to be regulated by the FCA this year.