Being able to pay a big purchase off in installments is rather valuable for many people and now more folks could make use of buy now pay later services.

Local buy now pay later firm, Payflex has been acquired by Zip, a leader in the retail finance and payments sector.

The acquisition will assist Zip in expanding globally but particularly in Africa. Payflex currently has 1 000 active merchants in its network and as many as 135 000 customers have used Payflex, five times the number from August 2020.

“The growth of Payflex over the past few years has demonstrated the demand for BNPL [buy now pay later] in South Africa. Zip’s acquisition will boost the speed and scale of Payflex’s expansion and allow merchants and shoppers to benefit from Zip’s world-class products, platform and global reach. It is also a significant vote of confidence in the all-South African Payflex team, which will remain unchanged and focused on growing the business,” Payflex founder and chief executive, Paul Behrmann, said in a statement.

The firm says that with the buy now pay later option, merchant sales increase by 30 percent on average. Later this year Payflex says it will launch an in-store offering.

Together with Zip, it looks like Payflex will be able to bring its solution to more folks around the world, something Zip chief executive officer and managing director Larry Diamond highlighted in a statement.

“The shift away from the unfriendly world of credit cards that was the genesis of Zip’s Australian business, and its proven to be a global phenomenon. Millennial and Gen Z customers are consistently demonstrating their appetite for the simpler, fairer payment options that Zip is providing. This global play supporting customers and global retailers alike provides a real point of difference as we strive to become the first payment choice and a trusted and innovative, global payments brand,” says Diamond.

You can read more about Payflex here.