Agile Premium Finance and ePayPolicy have partnered to offer checkout financing options to clients in the insurance industry.
“With ePayPolicy's latest feature release, Finance Connect, Agile can now offer its customers convenient online loan registration and premium payment solutions,” the companies said in a news release on Tuesday (May 14).
“Finance Connect allows Agile customers to manage premium finance, including e-signed premium finance agreements (PFAs), in a single location with secure connectivity to customer systems and common industry management systems. You will be able to apply through an online session.”
Financing options such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) are growing in popularity, with the top five lenders in this space increasing in popularity between 2019 and 2021, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is stated that it has been shown to have grown by 970%.
However, the companies added that premium finance companies (PFCs) differ from BNPL startups in that they have long-standing relationships with their partners and do not need to justify their value.
Mark Engels, CEO of ePayPolicy, added: “Central to the creation of Finance Connect was our intention to maintain our existing partnership with PFC.” “We didn't want to try to take business away from them or create a marketplace. We wanted to help both sides work together more quickly for the convenience of insureds. ”
The partnership comes at a time when nearly two-thirds of consumers have used some kind of installment payment option at least once in the past year, according to a series of studies by Splitit and PYMNTS Intelligence.
“Looking a little deeper, the survey shows that 37% of consumers have used BNPL. More than a third of the lowest-income consumers choose BNPL; increases among higher income brackets,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this month.
And consumers who have tried BNPL love it, with research showing that nearly 80% of consumers have had a positive experience with the product.
When it comes to what they buy, more than a third of consumers use BNPL to purchase clothing and accessories, 18% use installment payments to fill their grocery carts, and More than 14% chose BNPL when paying for travel-related services. .
Meanwhile, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster recently spoke with Splitit CEO Nadan Sheth about options for financial institutions wanting to gain a position in the BNPL market.
“Consumers are worried about taking out new loans, even if it’s a short-term loan. [certain] Buy now, pay the loan later to buy what you need, with annual interest rates ranging from 25% to 35%,” Sheth said.
He argued that more affordable options can be found with bank installment loans, which usually don't charge interest.
