PayPal has today launched PayPal Pay in 4 – Australia’s only no-late-fee and interest-free buy now, pay later (BNPL) offering, giving Australians more choice and flexibility in how they shop online, with the security and protections that they know and trust from PayPal.
PayPal Pay in 4 can now be used at checkout across hundreds of thousands of Australian and millions of global online stores – almost everywhere you see the PayPal ‘button’ ii. As an option in the PayPal Wallet, it’s quick, easy and convenient to use, and can be tracked in the PayPal app or on the PayPal website.
Almost unheard of five years ago, recent research commissioned by PayPal* found that today nearly all Australian online shoppers (96%) are aware of BNPL – however over half (55%) say they have not used BNPL yet. Late fees are a key reason, with 50% of Australian online shoppers saying they would not use a BNPL service with “high late fees”.
Tommy Suffren, PayPal’s Consumer Insights Expert, said, “We’ve seen clear demand from consumers for an easy, secure BNPL service in Australia with no late fees, and we’re responding to that demand.
“From today, Australians will be able to access a huge range of goods and services online from millions of businesses and pay for them in interest-free instalments using PayPal Pay in 4. We’re providing Australians with peace of mind knowing they can use a buy now, pay later service on PayPal’s secure platform and will be covered by our Buyer Protection policy for eligible purchases, without the risk of being penalised for late payments.”
Australians want a trusted, secure provider for their BNPL needs – with no high fees
The same trusted security and protections which Australians have come to know and expect from PayPal are available for eligible purchases made using PayPal Pay in 4. This includes PayPal Buyer Protection – meaning Australians are covered should something go wrong with their eligible purchase, such as if it doesn’t arrive, is faulty or counterfeit.
While BNPL has become a popular payment option, security is still a key consideration for many Australians, with PayPal’s research revealing that almost three in five online shoppers (60%) would abandon a BNPL purchase if they had security concerns.
Customer experience and ease of use are also important to Australian online shoppers, with more than half (53%) saying they would abandon a BNPL purchase if it was too difficult to use or if the initial sign-up process took too long (50%).
Australians want to use BNPL across travel and tourism, ticketed events and even bill payments
Unsurprisingly, retail-related purchases are still most popular for Australians when using BNPL, with about a quarter of online shoppers (26%) having used BNPL to purchase clothing and accessories, followed by electronics and computing (20%). Health & Beauty and Home & Gardening-related products (both 15%) are also popular choices for Australians when splitting the cost of payments.
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However, there is growing interest among online shoppers to use BNPL for a wider range of goods and services. Reflecting Australians’ strong desire to travel and the propensity for a post-pandemic bounce-back in the travel sector, 44% of online shoppers who haven’t used BNPL for travel and tourism would consider doing so. This was followed closely by electronics and computing (43%), home & garden (37%) and event tickets (37%) – nodding to a post pandemic boom in events and experiences.
Interestingly, other areas that Australian online shoppers have not, but would consider using BNPL for, included household bills (27%) and government fees (32%).
PayPal Pay in 4 can be used almost anywhere the PayPal ‘button’ is available. When you hit the PayPal button at checkout, your payment options will appear such as debit card, credit card or bank account, and now, for eligible customers, PayPal Pay in 4 will be there as an option for eligible purchases. PayPal’s new BNPL service lets you split the cost of eligible purchases between $30 and $1,500 into 4 interest-free payments consisting of an initial down payment and 3 fortnightly instalments.
For more information, visit the PayPal Australia website here.