Consumers, ecommerce, and businesses are changing, and so is AfterPay. Based on the consumers’ increasing demands for flexibility, transparency, and mindful spending, AfterPay transforms into Riverty this fall. A completely new human-centric fintech brand with a renewed focus: to help consumers and partners live their best financial lives.
Digitisation increasingly leads consumers to experience a brand or product in one place and buy it in another. As a result, consumers’ needs change. They place more and more value on flexibility and freedom of choice when it comes to what and how they buy.
This is most evident in payments. In this area, consumers report having two different types of needs. First, there are the stable, top-tier ‘hygiene’ needs: consumers expect a trustworthy, easy-to-use, secure and well-known payment method. Around half of the consumers indicate these ‘hygiene needs’, meaning that payment methods must meet these requirements to even be taken into consideration by consumers.
Second, consumers’ payment needs revolve around flexibility. Research by AfterPay Insights shows that half of the Dutch and German consumers indicate the need for flexible payments. Today, 36% of consumers actively seek out web shops that offer Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, with 18 – 39-year-old consumers doing this the most. The growing need for flexibility is also clear when looking at the requisite for a ‘monthly invoice’ product that can allow customers to postpone or split up their payments: 11-13% of consumers say they need each of those payment options, respectively.
Looking at the need for BNPL and flexibility from a broader perspective, AfterPay Insights sees that consumers place more and more value on having the freedom of choice: 22% of shoppers say that they want to use a payment method that gives them the freedom to choose how and when they want to pay.
Despite consumers’ high demands for flexible payments, meeting these needs is not self-evident today. Some find flexibility in payments risky, saying it lets consumers lose the overview of their finances. ‘But I would like to turn this around’, says Teresa Schlichting, Chief Strategy Officer at Arvato Financial Solutions. ‘People lose an overview of their finances due to increased opportunities to spend money, through accounts on different channels. With the right digital financial tools, people have even more opportunities to live the life they strive for, without compromising on their financial literacy and freedom.'
AfterPay Insights confirms that giving consumers transparency when it comes to payments contributes to a better financial situation. For example, almost 60% of people whose financial situation has improved over the last year (18% of consumers) use an app that gives them an overview of their finances by aggregating all their payments. And as consumers use the app longer, their financial situation improves over time.
The increasing needs for flexibility and transparency show that consumers are becoming more demanding. And shopping behaviour has drastically shifted to an online first approach: running an ecommerce business is more complex than ever. Giving consumers a value-adding, solid brand experience involves constant optimisation of the value chain.
These developments lead AfterPay and Arvato Financial Solutions to take their next step and become Riverty, the human-centric fintech that helps consumers and partners live their best financial lives. As Riverty, AfterPay and Arvato Financial Solutions want to create a more mindful approach to paying and finances.
For consumers, Riverty means more freedom during online shopping, with transparency, fairness and communication, and a mindful perspective on their financial wellbeing. As for partners and merchants, Riverty turns Arvato’s Financial Solutions into one sustainable force for growth. Under the new brand and its payment products, merchants will be able to showcase their identity even more, while also remaining close to their consumers. The new brand aims to deliver a synergy that helps build on current strengths and create the best opportunities for ecommerce clients in the future.
Nikki Constantine, Director Global Marketing & Brand at AfterPay: ‘Our new payment products let consumers rely on a transparent overview and flexible payment options to suit their evolving payment needs. Plan your payments to your convenience. We remind you about upcoming payment due dates and we let you pause payments. We believe in the freedom that a digital tool can deliver.’
This article was first published in Payment Methods Report 2022, the most updated overview of trends and developments in the payment methods space and the innovative technologies that these methods work upon, emerging consumers habits, and strategies on how to win at conversion and retention.
About Teresa Schlichting and Nikki Constantine
Teresa Schlichting is Chief Strategy Officer at Arvato Financial Solutions. Nikki Constantine is Director Global Marketing and Brand at AfterPay. Together with their colleagues, they work on successfully bringing innovative BNPL products and financial solutions to market. About AfterPay
AfterPay – from Arvato Financial Solutions, soon to be Riverty – lets consumers and partners live their best financial lives. Their BNPL products are available in nine markets in Europe and consist of five payment services: the 14-day Invoice, Campaign Invoice, Consolidated Invoice, Fixed Instalments, AfterPay Flex, and soon-to-be-launched Split in 3.
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