Revolut, the global financial superapp with more than 20 million customers worldwide, has launched its responsible pay later product, ‘Pay Later’ in Ireland, where 1.9m adults have a Revolut account.
The rollout of Pay Later commenced at the end of June 2022, with a select group of customers, and over 1,000 have already purchased products and services using the Revolut instalments product.
Revolut Pay Later is the first pay later product in Ireland that uses an approved credit limit, designed to focus on affordability. Revolut puts the customer in control of when they want to use Pay Later rather than being restricted to certain merchant partnerships.
Qualified customers can use Pay Later for purchases up to a maximum of €499, with any of their Revolut cards, including when paying with a Revolut Disposable Virtual Card, which provides an extra layer of security for online transactions.
The fee of 1.65% per purchase is repaid as part of the final two instalments. Fully integrated within the Revolut app, once approved, customers can activate Pay Later on-the-go with one tap in their Revolut app. Customers can view their Pay Later balance in the Cards section and in the Pay Later hub. If a customer would like to repay the instalments early, there are no additional fees to do so.
Whether it’s a new washing machine, hotel booking, or a birthday gift, customers can use Pay Later at any merchant that accepts Revolut online or in store. Unlike other pay later products, merchants do not sign up to Revolut Pay Later, and Revolut does not charge them for Pay Later transactions.
Data from the rollout of Revolut Pay Later shows that customers are using the service at a variety of retailers, with some of the most popular being clothing, sports, and electronics stores.
Martin Higgins (35) is a Revolut customer who was part of the rollout of Revolut Pay Later in Ireland. Working as a mechanical engineer and project manager, Martin is a keen shutterbug and takes a variety of photography, including adventure and outdoor, as a side pursuit. He used Revolut Pay Later in August to purchase new photography equipment at a local shop in Dublin.
Martin said: “I wanted new flash equipment to support my photography, but I needed a specific brand to work with the rest of my specialised setup. My local store didn’t have what I needed at the time, but it was ordering the correct items in. Six months later, it was unexpected when the store finally had everything I needed, and it didn’t seem responsible to pay the full cost before my payday came around.
“I had seen Revolut Pay Later recently become available to me. I decided to give it a go to purchase the flash equipment comfortably and pay the instalments over a couple of months. I’m delighted with the decision as I’m booked to photograph a wedding in the next couple of weeks.”
Revolut checks customer affordability by linking to customers’ existing bank accounts through Open Banking. Revolut will assess customer suitability and affordability for ‘Pay Later’ through an underwriting process. The current maximum credit limit is €499, but each customer will have their own bespoke limit as decided by Revolut’s credit assessment.
The new product also features built-in safeguards to check that users can afford their Pay Later limit. Unlike other pay later providers, Revolut is able to offer a more robust assessment as it approves the credit limit before the transaction rather than offering an instalments payment method at the point of sale.
Pay Later is another tool to help customers manage their spending all from one app. Revolut’s ‘Pay Later’ offering meets the growing consumer demand for this personal finance tool, while offering it in a responsible way, with a heavy emphasis on customer affordability and suitability. Pay Later joins the suite of innovative products Revolut will be delivering to solve for all of its customers’ credit needs.
Joe Heneghan, CEO Revolut Europe, commented: “We’re delighted to add Revolut ‘Pay Later’ to our financial superapp to give our customers more control and flexibility over their personal finances, in a responsible way, by enabling them to spread the cost of purchases over three instalments.
“From assisting budgeting, to managing cash flow, we’ve had great feedback and stories from our customers who have used Pay Later as part of the early rollout, and we look forward to hearing more.”
