Virgin Money is set to enter the buy now, pay later market later this year, with Virgin Money Slyce.
The new product enables customers to consolidate their credit spending in one place, with one monthly payment, with any spend over £30 spread across three, six, nine or 12-month repayment plans - and paying back in three or six months is fee-free.
For longer plans, an instalment fee is added. This is a percentage of the total amount a customer puts into the plan – nine monthly payments have a 7.5% fee, while 12 monthly payments have a 10% payment.
Customers can also build their credit score while using Slyce, can spend abroad in any currency with no foreign exchange fees or extra charges, and can earn cashback when shopping at retailers including H&M, Sweaty Betty and Space NK.
Customers will be able to view and manage their Slyce activity via the Virgin Money Credit Card app.
Unlike some other buy now, pay later providers, Slyce is fully regulated, and as such will have a range of protections and safeguards in place. Virgin Money stated that it will also carry out credit and affordability checks before any spending starts.
Created in partnership with payments companies Mastercard and TSYS, Slyce has been designed and built with a Generation Z audience in mind. Therefore, there will be plenty of content in the app to help educate people about finances.
Hugh Chater, chief commercial officer at Virgin Money, commented: “It’s clear that consumers now expect to be able to pay via buy now pay later plans, so we’re very excited to offer an option that will bring more customers into a regulated credit environment at the same time as offering market-leading terms, flexibility and simplicity.
“Importantly, Slyce will help our customers stay in control of their spending while also building their credit score for the future – allowing our customers to buy now, pay better on terms that work for them.”
Separately, Virgin Money has launched a new online service called Marketplace, where small business banking customers can access different services offered by selected digital providers.
Following on from the launch of M-Track earlier this year, Marketplace is the next step in the ecosystem that the bank is developing.
Where M-Track provides customers with a snapshot view of their business, Marketplace aims to fill gaps by bringing in additional services from a range of fintech partners.
Marketplace launches with five partner services:
- Expend, which provides an all-in-one platform for business expenses.
- Accelerated Payments, which offers invoice financing.
- Superscript, which provides flexible monthly insurance cover.
- Untied, which helps sole trader businesses stay on top of their taxes.
- BrightHR, which is an HR platform that helps managers take things digital.
Graeme Sands, head of business lending and products at Virgin Money, said: “Marketplace brings our customers together with carefully selected partner companies that can help them run their business.
“We know that small business owners are time poor and are looking for new ways to navigate the changing world around them, so we’re working hard with innovative fintech partners who are helping us to help our customers run their businesses in the best way.”
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