Called FavePay Later, the “interest-free credit” option would allow eligible users to split payments into three equal instalments, which would be automatically deducted every month. No additional fees would be charged if payments were made on time, the mobile payment and e-commerce app said in a statement Monday. It added that users also would earn up to 10% cashback with each purchase. Fave’s app is available in Singapore and across 35 cities in Malaysia and Indonesia. It will launch in India later this year, following its April 2021 acquisition by India’s Pine Labs.  The BNPL service is accessible at all Fave merchants in Singapore and Malaysia, which includes Marks & Spencer, Best Denki, GNC, and Pandora. The launch would provide cash-strapped consumers who needed easier access to credit, Fave said.  According to terms and conditions listed on its website, customers’ eligibility for FavePay Later would be assessed based on several criteria including validity of credit or debit card linked to the user’s Fave account and the user’s transaction history on the e-commerce platform. Customers would incur a late payment charge of 1.5% of the final price if they failed to fulfil an instalment before the due date.  Merchants also would have to pay an additional fee for FavePay Later transactions from September 2021, according to Fave.  Fave CEO Joel Neoh said customers wanted flexibility, convenience, and rewards, while merchants should facilitate cashless payments, loyalty, and instalment payments.  The payment platform said its BNPL option would be expanded to include several online commerce platforms in Southeast Asia later this year. This followed its recent move to avail the API (application programming interface) for these operators to add support for FavePay payments, including BNPL as well as cashboack features.   Citing figures from Juniper Research, Fave said BNPL services were expected to account for 24% of global e-commerce transactions for physical goods, in value, up from 9% this year. They would account for at least 1.5 billion transactions in 2026, compared to 340 million this year.

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