Purchase now, pay later: UNI Card
UNI, a fintech firm, has created the ‘Pay 1/3rd’ pay later card, which automatically splits transactions into 1/thirds, allowing customers to pay their monthly bills in three instalments over three months with no additional fees.
UNI claimed that Pay 1/third aims to naturally solve the problem of short-term cash without burdening customers with high interest rates.
Customers who use the Pay 1/third card can also choose to ‘Pay in Full’ if they prefer not to pay in instalments, and in exchange, they will receive a 1% reward in the form of cashback. Pay 1/third was launched in June 2021 as a pilot programme, and in less than two months, it had attracted 10,000 customers. The start-up plans to reach 1 million users in India over the next year.
UNI, backed by Light speed Ventures and Accel India, received a significant seed round ($18.5 million) in October 2020, while still in the stealth phase.
“Long term credit period is a perceived need,” said Nitin Gupta, Founder and CEO of Uni, in response to the debut of the pay later card. We switched from debit to credit cards since the 40-50 day grace period looked like a better fit for our payment requirements. If we want to make credit products more accessible and democratic, we believe that extending this to three months is everything but natural.
We want to give maximum convenience and flexibility, as well as an obsessive focus on enriching the consumer experience.”
The Pay 1/third card was created with the cell phone generation in mind, who demand a highly engaging, seamless, and straightforward credit score solution. According to the company, a buyer would be promptly onboarded on the UNI platform and will have complete transparency over their transactions with no hidden fees.
Neither a joining fee nor an annual fee may be charged at this time. The Pay 1/third app allows users to track their spending in real-time, see a breakdown of their expenditure by class, and receive compensation alerts.
The Pay 1/third card, which is powered by Visa, is accepted by hundreds of thousands of merchants (both online and offline) around the country. The card can be used to order food, groceries, make e-commerce purchases, or simply swiped at any physical location.
“With over 220 million credit-eligible consumers, there is considerable potential for expanding access to credit through the adoption of innovative, pay later solutions, especially among a fast digitising consumer base,” said T.R. Rama Chandra, Group Country Manager, Visa India and South Asia.
We’re thrilled to be working with UNI on the Pay 1/3rd card launch, as well as the company’s overall objective to democratise credit and drive affordability in India.”
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