Ikea says ‘Hej!’ to buy-now-pay-later, investing $22.5m in Israeli BNPL firm Jifiti

As well as making it easier for customers to build their own furniture, Ikea has also made it easier for its customers to finance their flatpacks, turning its attention to the world of buy-now-pay-later.

Ikea has paid $22.5m for a minority stake in Israeli BNPL firm Jifiti via its investment arm, Inka Group.

Now Ikea’s customers will be able to buy their Billy bookcases, Poäng chairs and Blåhaj sharks using Jifiti’s financing options.

"Ingka Group is taking decisive steps into financial services, and a core part of our journey is to help make Ikea more affordable and accessible for our customers,” Krister Mattsson, managing director of Ingka Investments, said.

“Our investment in Jifiti is another exciting step for Ingka Investments as it follows our recent other financial services investment in Ikano Bank.”

Earlier this year, Ikea purchased a 49 per cent stake in Ikano Bank, a Swedish firm that was initially founded as part of the Ikea company before going separate ways in 1988. Ikano Bank offers a range of banking products, including store cards, loans and savings products.

The flatpack furniture giant already had an existing partnership with Jifiti, offering its financing services in stores across Belgium, Spain, France and Portugal since 2019, and with this latest investment will begin to roll it out into other countries too.

“When two companies as aligned as Jifiti and Ingka Group take their partnership to the next level through investment, it signals the first of many exciting changes in the landscape of the industry,” Yaacov Martin, CEO and co-founder of Jifiti, added.

“This investment will empower both our organizations to achieve our goals in the point-of-sale financing space and fuel Jifiti’s technological and international growth,” 

Under the new deal, Jifiti’s platform will enable Ikea’s 706m annual in-store customers and 3.6bn online shoppers to pay in instalments.