Splitit pivots customer strategy

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Buy now, pay later company Splitit is changing the way it works with merchants and acquires new customers through a partnership with the telecom company Samsung Electronics America.

“The reason the this is such a big opportunity is because we are going to be able to offer [Splitit’s payment services] to any consumer that uses their digital wallet,” CEO Nandan Sheth said in an interview this week. Prior to the partnership, “you had to sign up or you had to enter your credentials.”

Splitit will be the first BNPL option on the Samsung Wallet, which includes the Samsung Pay app.

Through the partnership, the Atlanta-based buy now, pay later player will rely less on signing up new customers and partnering individually with merchants, and instead take a broader approach, Sheth said.

Some BNPL companies require consumers to sign up for their service or check the consumers’ credit history. In Splitit's case, customers need to enter their payment information at checkout at a partnering merchant to create a payment plan, but the BNPL option will be available to everyone with a Samsung digital wallet, Sheth said “There's no new card, there’s no QR code,” he said.

Splitit’s payment services — which include the traditional pay in four option that splits a payment into four bi-weekly installments — can be used anywhere a Samsung digital wallet can be used, Sheth added, meaning the firm is less reliant on individual partnerships with merchants.

“This is the first time in our model where we are not having to acquire a merchant one-by-one,” he said

Samsung Wallet isn't the only digital wallet that offers a buy now, pay later option. Google Pay partnered with Klarna in June, although the search and tech giant had previously dropped its BNPL options in the U.S. Apple Pay also partners with Affirm and Klarna to offer a buy now, pay later option at checkout.

Companies like Affirm also offer their own debit card, which lets cardholders use buy now, pay later options wherever those cards are accepted.

Sheth estimated the number of people who use the Samsung digital wallet is about 30 million in the United States A Samsung spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

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