Mastercard drives scale of Buy Now, Pay Later with raft of new partners

By Edlyn Cardoza

Mastercard recently announced a growing list of leading partners, including BNPL specialists and globally recognized brands, further expanding Mastercard Installments, the unique BNPL program that delivers greater choice at checkout, both in-store and online.

Amount, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, Deserve, H&R Block, i2c, Lithic, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sutton Bank and Walgreens join the vast array of partners already working with Mastercard on the BNPL program. They are the latest brands to embrace the benefits of adopting Mastercard Installments’ innovative open-loop model.

Mastercard Installments uses the power of the company’s trusted network to make BNPL available to millions of consumers and merchants worldwide. It enables banks, lenders, FinTech companies, wallets and BNPL players to offer a variety of flexible installment options to consumers – including a 0% interest, pay-in-four model – without onerous integration into the merchant infrastructure. This allows participating partners to quickly offer secure and competitive BNPL experiences at scale through Mastercard’s global acceptance network, which includes more than 83 million merchant locations.

“As demand for BNPL solutions continues to grow, consumers have made it clear they want greater choice, flexibility and control in how they pay – wherever they shop,” said Linda Kirkpatrick, President of North America at Mastercard. “With our vast acceptance and reach, Mastercard is uniquely positioned to enable lenders and merchants to deliver seamless and secure BNPL experiences at scale. Our diverse new partners represent the versatility and agility of our BNPL program, and we’re excited to work together to make BNPL available to millions of consumers worldwide.”

Mastercard Installments enables consumers to digitally access BNPL offers, either pre-approved through their lender’s mobile banking app, an interaction they often trust most from their financial institution, or through instant approval during checkout. Pre-approved installments can be used directly on a merchant’s website or stored in digital wallets to be used online or in-store wherever Mastercard is accepted. Payments to the merchant are then made through a single-use Mastercard virtual card. Consumers have full transparency on lender practices up-front during the approval process. Unlike most BNPL offerings available today, consumers will continue to benefit from zero liability fraud protection, the ability to challenge unrecognized charges, and the peace of mind that comes with Mastercard’s acceptance footprint.

Mastercard Installments will also provide access and support to a robust network of partners and a suite of APIs that can be used to power various aspects of an installment experience, all delivered securely and at a global scale through the Mastercard multi-rail network.

Adam Hughes, CEO of Amount, said, “Our partnership with Mastercard opens up new ways for Amount to offer bank customers the ability to go to market easily and quickly with a BNPL solution, without the need for merchant integration. Bolstered by Mastercard’s powerful merchant network, bank-backed virtual cards can now enable a seamless transition from online to in-store BNPL options, giving customers greater flexibility and confidence to use the service when and where they want to shop.”

Ava Kelly, Chief Product Officer of i2c, a global Mastercard Fintech Express Program member, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Mastercard to provide buy now pay later, installment payment solutions on our global platform, as demand for BNPL continues to grow. Partnerships like ours enable issuers to offer customers increased financial access, flexibility, and control over how they spend, with unmatched speed-to-market that allows them to stay competitive within this growing market.”

Bo Jiang, CEO and Co-Founder of Lithic, said, “Our customers look to us for cutting-edge card products and BNPL has been at the top of the list but until now there hasn’t been an easy way for fintechs to include BNPL in their card issuing programs. With Mastercard Installments, Mastercard is making BNPL more broadly available than it’s ever been, and through our partnership, Lithic is able to bring this feature to companies of all sizes, from startups to enterprise companies.”