New ‘buy now, pay later’ fintech readies for launch

PollenPay, a new UK  fintech company, is set to launch into the increasingly competitive ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) space. 

The new platform says it has already attracted several notable retailers who will offer its service as a payment option from its first day of launch.

The Manchester-based firm was founded by Leon Wilson, also its CEO, alongside two other founders Brian Teo and Steven Hilton. 

They first developed an interest in the payments space while living in Australia. During this time, they witnessed the initial BNPL boom first-hand and began plans to refine and adapt the concept to better fit the UK market.  

“I’ve watched these issues affect British businesses and consumers for far too long and decided a change needed to be made. That’s why I’ve developed PollenPay, which I’m proud to launch very soon,” said Wilson.

“As a company, we’re committed to extolling the values of Manchester as a city and will offer a service tailored exactly to our customers’ needs. We’ve adopted the Manchester worker bee within our logo for a reason. We want to help put the city on the map within the BNPL scene; both in Britain and further afield. It’s an exciting moment to enter this developing space and to join the growing ranks of Manchester’s emerging Fintech scene,” he added. 

PollenPay, like most BNPL providers, offers customers interest-free installment plans on purchases over multiple installments by charging retailers a small fee. 

It said in a media release that it is “dedicated to ensuring that its customers have greater management of their cash flow and will enact “stringent measures to properly safeguard those who use its service”.  In addition, PollenPay says that prides itself “on a number of human-centric core values”. 

It adds that the service is free to customers “who pay on time”, with no interest charges or hidden fees. For those in delinquency, it offers no further clarity on charges. 

However, it also says that it allows customers to amend payment schedules should they fall into financial hardship. 

Unlike rivals like Klarna, however, it also seems to only offer instalments on a fortnightly basis rather than a monthly basis.