Latest news with #BNPLs
Malaysian Reserve
29-06-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Payments Platform Optty Kicks Off Next Stage of Growth with Appointment of Industry Leader Richard Miller as New CEO
SYDNEY, June 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Optty™, the Australian-founded global payments technology company, has appointed global industry leader Richard Miller as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Alan Miltz, Chairman of Optty said: 'As CEO, Richard Miller will lead Optty's next phase of global expansion, scaling and streamlining our pioneering platform that connects more than 145 payment methods (including digital wallets, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPLs) and credit/debit cards) through a single integration.' Optty's Board of Directors sees Miller's appointment as key to Optty's commitment to growth through partnerships, financial inclusion and product innovation. Miller will continue to build enduring relationships with merchants, processors and payment providers as the Singapore-headquartered company scales up. Miller says: 'I'm thrilled to join Optty at this pivotal time. Optty has built an extraordinary proposition that simplifies and accelerates eCommerce and in-person payments for the world's merchants, processors and acquirers. In a world where ways to pay have proliferated, Optty offers a uniquely powerful solution to simplify the technical challenge of offering broad consumer choice.' 'It will be my privilege to lead Optty's dedicated team as we work with our partners around the world to unlock the next wave of value and impact.' Miller's experience spans more than two decades of global leadership in fintechs, payments, and strategic consulting. His previous senior roles include ConnectID/ Australian Payments Plus, Deloitte, National Australia Bank and The Boston Consulting Group. Miller is widely respected across the Australian and international payments landscape for his strategic insight, collaborative leadership and deep industry expertise. Miltz said: 'Richard brings a rare combination of strategic clarity and execution experience across global payments. His leadership, deep fintech expertise, and commitment to partnership will be critical to delivering on our global ambitions. The Board and I are delighted to welcome Richard's appointment as CEO.' 'For Optty it marks a significant step as we scale our reach and relevance in what is a rapidly evolving global payments landscape.' 'We would also like to thank Steven Ritchie for his exceptional leadership as interim CEO and are pleased to announce that Steven will continue to help lead the business in an expanded capacity as Chief Operating Officer.' For interviews/more contact Media@ About Optty: Optty is a global payments infrastructure platform for PSPs, gateways, acquirers and merchants that provides a single integration to 145+ payment partners in 140 countries and 120 currencies (and growing). Optty empowers partners to access and provide payment innovation at scale, enabling them to add local payment methods across nine payment types; BNPL, digital wallets, credit/debit, gift cards/virtual cards, crypto, pay with points, open banking, P2P and payouts as well as additional value-added services in ESG, Fraud Prevention and Tokenization. Optty's simplified API integration requires no further development for any payment methods to be enabled, saving thousands of development hours for partners and merchants alike. Optty is a Certified B Corp, founded out of Australia and the UK, headquartered in Singapore and global in its service coverage. Optty powers limitless ways to pay with unrivalled simplicity. Media@
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
American Shoppers Turn To BNPL For Groceries As High Costs Bite
BNPL services such as Klarna are increasingly being used for groceries. (Photo by Nikos ... More Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images) American shoppers are increasingly using buy now, pay later loans (BNPLs) to buy groceries, and more people are paying those bills late, according to a spending intentions survey from Lending Tree released Friday. The findings are just the latest in a long line of stories suggesting that consumers, already under the cosh from persistent inflation, are feeling the weight of an uncertain economy, high interest rates and worries over the impact of tariffs, are having trouble affording the basics such as their weekly groceries. The survey was conducted between April 2-3 and took in the responses from 2,000 U.S. consumers aged 18-79-years-old. Around half reported that they had used BNPL loans and of those consumers, a quarter said they were using BNPL to purchase groceries, a figure up from 14% in 2024 and 21% in 2023. Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said that they had made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the past 12 months, up from 34% in the year prior. The loans, which allow consumers to split purchases into, typically, three smaller payments, have emerged as a popular alternative to credit cards because they often do not charge interest so long as the payments are paid on time and in full. However, they have courted controversy as a financing option because consumers can be stung by high fees if they miss payments. In addition, there is less financial control from the authorities over the sector, which have also come in for criticism. In Lending Tree's survey, 60% of BNPL users said that they had used multiple loans at once, while nearly a quarter said that they have held three or more loans at one time. Apparel, including shoes and accessories, is the item most commonly bought with a buy now, pay later loan, but technology devices and home decor is not far behind. PayPal is the most commonly used BNPL lender, utilized by 56% of the BNPL users in the survey. However, three other services — Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay — are also popular. Tough times for U.S. consumers in the grocery stores, with many struggling to make ends meet. ... More (Photo by) 'A lot of people are struggling and looking for ways to extend their budget,' Lending Tree's chief consumer finance analyst, Matt Schulz, said of the findings. 'Inflation is still a problem. Interest rates are still really high. There's a lot of uncertainty around tariffs and other economic issues, and it's all going to add up to a lot of people looking for ways to extend their budget however they can.' He added: 'For an awful lot of people, that's going to mean leaning on buy now, pay later loans. I do think it's going to get worse, at least in the short term. I don't know that there's a whole lot of reason to expect these numbers to get better in the near term.' Men are more likely than women (53% versus 46%) to have used a BNPL loan. Also, the younger the consumer, the more likely they were to have used one: 64% of Gen Z (aged 18 to 28) said that they had used one, compared with 29% of baby boomers aged 61 to 79. That 64% included 16% who had used them six or more times. Delivery service DoorDash recently announced that it would start to accept Klarna payments for takeouts, leading to concerns that American consumers were unwilling to give up their lifestyles and perceived home comforts, instead using payment management to maintain their standard of living. Two-thirds of BNPL users told Lending Tree that they would consider using it for food delivery, and 16% of BNPL admitted that they had already used BNPL for restaurant food delivery or takeout.
