Eye on BNPL: equipifi Tweaks BNPL Decision Tool; Zip Taps Google Cloud for Product Testing – Digital Transactions

With the U.S. buy now, pay later market predicted to increase to $423.08 billion in volume by 2031, according to ResearchandMarkets.com, BNPL providers are busily updating and developing their products. Among them are equipifi Inc., with a tweak to its decision utility, and Zip Co Ltd. enlisting Google Cloud as a venue to test and develop new products.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based equipifi, which provides BNPL services for banks and credit unions can offer to their customers, said its Risk-Based Pricing for BNPL enhancement will give its clients more flexibility in customizing BNPL offers to each account holder’s real-time financial situation, while selecting offers that are competitive with other BNPL installment providers. Equipifi in 2023 launched the ability to tailor BNPL offers on real-time account and cash flow positions.

For example, a financial institution with a customer who maintains a high cash balance but has a need to make a very large purchase can see offers tailored for that. A customer who also carries high cash balances but whose file indicates they have a slightly higher risk may see other terms and rates, equipifi says.

“Banks and credit unions already have visibility into the tenure, balances, and cash flow that set account holders apart,” Bryce Deeney, equipifi chief executive and founder, says in a statement.

“That’s a key strength over third-party BNPL providers, who have to piece together what an institution sees every day. Our platform has always enabled institutions to underwrite in real-time using that data, and as the infrastructure behind in-house BNPL programs, it keeps evolving so institutions can do more with the information they already have. Risk-based pricing takes that underwriting further inside the program our customers already trust,” Deeney says.

In related news, Zip says it will use Google Cloud to make what it calls an AI-Native Product Factory. Essentially, it will be a digital space for Zip to create, develop, test, launch, and update new products and experiences in the United States.

Zip says this use represents a shift in approach on how to use AI. It will connect customer research, design, engineering, risk, legal, compliance, and customer experience in one shared and governed agentic environment instead of attaching AI to each component separately.