1. Payment Gateways
  2. Financing Payment Solutions

Start Offering Financing Payment Solutions in Your Store

Our ready-to-use integrations with the leading solutions
help you increase conversions and sales

Offering a financing payment method to your customers can increase your average order value by up to 120%. Customers love the freedom of being able to "buy now, pay later" and are more likely to make larger purchases that would otherwise cause them to hesitate. Plus, once customers know this option is available on your store, they're more likely to return and make repeat purchases!

We have integrated with the best eCommerce financing payments to make it easy to offer your customers this enticing payment option.

How Does "Buy Now, Pay Later" Work?

Many customers would be happy to make a larger purchase but are indecisive about putting down a large up front payment. It's normal for people to hesitate on bigger purchases, even if they can afford it. After all, what if an emergency comes up and they've spent their savings? Consumers with tighter finances are reluctant for more obvious reasons: they simply might not have the money, but if they did, they would buy your product without question.

Buy Now, Pay Later is the answer for helping both of these customers pass the obstacles that prevent them from buying. Instead of paying the full amount all at once, the customer can enroll in a payment plan in which the total price is spread out over months.

Financing appeals to customers because it means they can get the product right away and pay over time. Online stores that offer financing will send the product to the customer at the time of purchase, not the time the final payment is made. Of course, this causes some merchants to worry about customers who receive their product and then stop paying. Payment providers that handle financing have eased these concerns by assuming responsibility for the debt — you get paid the full amount up front by the payment provider, who then collects payment from the customer with no need for further action from you.

How Buy Now Pay Later Works

Here's what happens when financing for eCommerce customers:

1

The customer sees the financing offer

A customer is shopping on your website, and they notice the financing offer on a product they want to buy. Or, they learn about the available financing from a banner on your website, an email newsletter, or by other means. Now, the customer is aware that you offer payment plans for your higher-priced items.

2

The customer goes through an approval process

When the customer decides they want to buy a product with financing, they apply through the payment provider, usually by clicking a button on your website that forwards them to the application. Once the customer fills out and submits the form, they'll receive an answer within a few minutes as to whether they're approved and for how much.

3

The customer buys the item, with any applicable promotions

Qualifying customers can then purchase the product with the financing plan in place. Depending on the customer's approval and the features offered by your financing payment provider, the customer may get special deals like no interest for the first 6 months, no money down, or other promotions.

4

You are paid by the financing provider

When the customer makes the purchase, you are paid in full immediately by the financing provider, who then assumes all responsibility for collecting the customer's later payments. There's nothing more for you to do regarding getting payment from the customer; you are fully paid and protected in case the customer defaults.

5

You pack and ship the item as normal

From here on out, you treat the purchase just as any other purchase. When you fulfill the customer's order, remember that this is a customer willing to enter a payment plan just to get the product they want from you, so this could be a good time to include a flier with a special promotion for their next purchase or other small bonuses as you see fit. Financing increases customer loyalty, so make sure to take advantage of this opportunity!

6

The customer makes monthly payments to the financing provider

The customer goes on to enjoy their purchase while paying it off over time directly to the financing payment provider. All aspects of the payment arrangement are handled between the provider and the customer, with no further action needed on your part — for example, if the customer misses a payment, the provider will contact them.

How to Offer Financing on Your eCommerce Website

offer website financing

We've discussed the many advantages of offering payment financing options on your website.
Here's how to set up your online store to provide this valuable option to your customers.

1

Is financing right for your business?

The point of financing is to offer your customers an easier way to pay for expensive items, so customer financing providers have a pricing threshold that a product must meet or exceed to qualify. This threshold depends on the provider — some financing providers allow payment plans on products priced as low as $50, while others are only available for higher-priced merchandise. Consider the pricing of your products as this will influence which financing providers you'll want to use and whether your online store needs customer financing at all. On the other hand, if you're trying to increase sales of very expensive products to an established customer base, make sure the financing payment solution you use can split the payments into small enough amounts that your usual customers can afford to make them.

You should also consider the cost to your business. Some financing payment providers charge transaction fees for the use of their services, and others charge a flat rate, but others are free to use beyond the normal credit card processing fees. Sometimes this is contingent on you using your own online checkout or POS system, so it's best to use an eCommerce platform like Shift4Shop that can integrate with your chosen payment providers.

2

Do your customers (and your business) qualify for financing?

Customers will need to meet certain requirements to be accepted by your financing provider. This usually involves a credit check, with a score above 650 preferred. For providers that enforce these requirements, customers must also not have any recent negative events on their credit like foreclosure or bankruptcy. This isn't likely to be a problem for all your customers unless your business specifically targets consumers with bad credit. There are also financing providers that don't enforce credit checks, but they're more likely to charge higher rates to your business.

What you sell also matters: be aware that some financing providers will not do business with stores that sell certain types of products, such as highly-regulated or age-restricted items, because of the increased liability to the payment provider. For more information on this topic, read up on high-risk industries.

3

What are your options for a customer financing payment provider?

With the eCommerce payment breakthroughs by FinTech companies with their eye on disrupting (and improving) the online payments industry, several options have come forth that make it simple for customers to pay for their purchase over time. However, as the online store owner, your responsibility is to get the financing payment option working smoothly on your website.

Your best option is always to let your shopping cart software take on the brunt of the work. If the payment provider you want to use is already integrated with your eCommerce platform, it becomes a very simple matter to connect that payment processor to your store. Without an integration, you may need to edit code or pay for a custom solution.

Best Buy Now, Pay Later Payments for Your Website

Fortunately for business owners like you, Shift4Shop integrates with more payment processors than any other shopping cart software,
including several highly-rated financing providers.

Affirm

Affirm offers customer financing solutions for businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprise. On checkout, customers can choose from several payment plans that let them split their payments across 3, 6, or 12 months so they can fit the purchase into their budget.

Affirm
bread

Bread Finance is a flexible pay-over-time solution that lets you offer several payment plans to your customers. Bread is also fully customizable so you can make your payment process match your brand and website, instead of using Bread Finance branding.

Bread
Credova Payments

Credova allows customers choose from multiple pay-over-time options for products that cost as much as $5000. Approval takes seconds because Credova does not make any hard credit inquiries on your customers. In fact, those who send monthly payments on time can actually build credit through this solution, while also giving you higher sales on more expensive items.

Credova Payments
klarna

Klarna offers several different financing options that are very appealing to customers, including "Pay Later" which lets customers pay after delivery of their order, and some very flexible interest-free installment plans. You still get paid up front, even if the customer uses the "Pay Later" option.

Klarna
PayPal Pay in 4

PayPal Pay in 4 gives customers the option to split their purchase into 4 interest-free payments, scheduled 2 weeks apart. As the business owner, you're paid in full at the time of purchase. There's also no extra cost to you if you decide to use PayPal Pay in 4 — all "pay later" offers are included in your usual PayPal rate.

PayPal Pay in 4
sezzle

Sezzle is a financing provider that evaluates customers for approval based on their bank activity rather than their FICO score, so it's popular among consumers with bad credit. You're paid up front while the customer pays 25% of the purchase cost at checkout and can then spread the other 75% over 6 weeks.

Sezzle
zippay

ZipPay is a popular payment provider in Australia that offers two financing options: ZipPay for purchases under $1,000 and ZipMoney for purchases over $1,000. ZipPay is convenient for both customers and merchants, as customers can log in through their PayPal or Facebook accounts to streamline checkout, and merchants get paid within the same day as the purchase.

ZipPay
apruve

Apruve is a credit program built specifically for B2B ecommerce sellers to make it easier to offer lines of credit to a business you supply. You get paid within 24 hours of shipment and the customer's credit account stays open to make additional purchases from you in the future. In the competitive world of B2B, this type of loyalty-building tool is a huge advantage.

Apruve

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