Zopa Bank has become the latest FinTech to join the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) space with an offering they dub ‘BNPL 2.0’ service, aimed at prioritising transparency and customer protection.

The bank said it is bringing sustainable BNPL lending to the UK market by bringing together the customer centricity of a FinTech alongside the underwriting capabilities of a regulated bank.

The UK’s BNPL space is worth £6 billion, and the bank will be aiming to serve 20 million customers who have previously used BNPL services.

Zopa has stated that its BNPL products will be fully regulated and that all users will be subject to credit checks and affordability tests.

The suite of products offered by Zopa will also share data with credit rating agencies (CRAs) to give other lenders a full picture of people’s debt positions, help customers consolidate, structure and pay down their debt using its proprietary tools, and enable users to build their credit profiles and improve their financial positions.

Tim Waterman, chief commercial officer at Zopa, said: “Against a backdrop of global financial uncertainty Zopa is entering the buy-now-pay-later space to make instant, yet responsible, lending decisions with products that are sustainable and fit for purpose.

“Zopa is ushering in the era of BNPL 2.0, an evolution of BNPL that is regulated,” he added.

“We combine the seamless customer journeys and best-in-class digital UX offered by traditional BNPL players alongside the ability to underwrite longer, larger loans in a way that fully meets regulatory requirements.”

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