One-Click Credit

Pay-later services are cashing in on urban lifestyles by extending credit quick and easy

- Prathamesh Mulye

Indrani Bose, a media professional, orders breakfast on Swiggy every day. After nearly two years of paying via card or m-wallet, she has now shifted to pay-later, ‘a faster and a more convenient option’. “In the morning, I am too drowsy to enter payment details or refill the wallet. The pay-later option has become a default for me,” says the 23-year-old, who has set a weekly spending limit of ₹5,000.

CONVENIENCE FIRST

Pay-later services such as Lazy Pay, Simpl and ePayLater provide credit-based payments on one click. There is no hassle of entering one-time passwords (OTPs), submitting Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation or re-entering account details as with cards and net banking. With pay-later, you can defer payment for your purchases from multiple online vendors, and just like credit cards, pay all of it together at regular intervals. The offered credit is between ₹500 and ₹25,000, depending on a customer’s credit profile and usage. There is no interest charged on the credit, and revenue for the pay-later companies comes from merchants who pay them per transaction.

Lazy Pay, the deferred payment option from PayU India, claims to have processed small-ticket credit at an annualised volume of $80 million. Launched in April 2017, it has more than 250,000 users, and more than 100 merchants on its platform. Lazy Pay clocks around 15,000 transactions every day, each averaging ₹700. “Some customers use Lazy Pay for instant credit, while for others it is about convenience,” says Pallav Jain, head of consumer business at PayU India.

Simpl, founded in 2015, also provides similar services and is available across 100 merchants. “The big convenience is that you can simply transact with one-click on various apps and websites. For all the purchases, you get one bill, every 15 days,” says Roshan Sam, head of customer experience at Simpl.

PARADIGM SHIFT