Page 34 - Banking Finance September 2022

ARTICLE

'BUY NOW, PAY LATER'

(BNPL): THE RETURN

OF LAYAWAY OR A

DISRUPTOR FOR

CREDIT CARDS

INDUSTRY

ong back shopping at almost any U.S. retailer and, like the purchase plans that have come before, it could
included the option to choose an item you were cost you.
after and have it stashed away in some back room
L while you made incremental payments until the Buy-now-pay-later isn't a fresh idea, but a growing number
purchase price was covered and you could take of tech platforms are finding success in partnering with
it home. retailers to offer portals for issuing credit at time of purchase
that allows the consumer to check out, virtually or in-person,
Those layaway plans mostly disappeared decades ago as with their goodies after agreeing to an instalment plan.
credit cards arose as the go-to option for consumers to cover Some charge interest, some don't, and rescheduling a
the cost of goods they couldn't quite afford in the moment. payment or paying late can also come with charges.
In-store financing also became a thing for many stores,
particularly those offering high-ticket items like furniture and India is one of the world's largest markets when it comes to
appliances. fintech Innovation and adoption.

Now, a tech-driven option that occupies a sort of middle Banking as we know of it has been always dynamic and prone
ground between layaway and in-store financing is on the rise to disruption. The advent of technology and ease of
regulation have been action as catalyst for steering the
Indian banking into new dimension. There are lot of new
About the author technology and products are being introduced that has
potential to challenge tradition banking and make the age
Alok Jaiswal old bankers run for their money. Fintechs,block chain
Sr. Manager
technology, data analytics are few of the new concepts that
Union bank of India
are in the main stream now. One of the new concepts that

34 | 2022 | SEPTEMBER | BANKING FINANCE