Zopa to acquire DivideBuy

This represents Zopa’s first acquisition, aimed to develop its `BNPL 2.0` strategy. The deal is focused on offering customers and companies a sustainable Buy Now, Pay Later suite of services.  

Clients will benefit from a simplified, secure, and fast finance process after this deal. The `BNPL 2.0` is set to combine multiple tools and solutions, which will use efficient fintech technology. The product will enable customers to make instant decisions as well as be fully protected from online threats, such as fraud. Furthermore, clients will also be able to make credit checks and safeguards of a regulated bank while using this service. 

Zopa’s BNPL 2.0. will also focus on providing customers with affordable credit by running and managing checks and affordability assessments. It will also offer them the possibility to share data with credit rating agencies (CRAs) in order to give other lenders the full picture of the debt situations of different individuals. 

Moreover, the product will enable clients to build their credit profiles and improve their financial status, while providing them with a better structure and consolidation solutions to pay down their debt using Zopa’s proprietary tools and products. 

Using DivideBuy’s products, merchants and traders can allow their user’s interest-free payment options at checkout, as well as the possibility to spend the cost of their purchase over a 2-12-month period with several merchants. 

Customers can use Zopa’s application quickly and efficiently, benefiting from instant credit decisions without any additional fees or early repayment penalties. 

Zopa’s development plan

British financial services company, Zopa offers multiple services to its client base, such as loans, deposit accounts, credit cards, debit cards, and more. 

The financial institution announced its partnership with US-based multinational data analytics and customer credit reporting company Experian at the beginning of February of 2023. 

The collaboration aimed to provide clients with improved credit options. Experian Boost data was included in Zopa’s credit card decision process, focusing on improving customers’ experience by providing them with better rates and offering them reduced APR services for a fixed period. They also had other benefits, like using this feature regardless of whether they applied for a Zopa credit card through Experian, Zopa, or another site. 

Earlier in the same month, Zopa raised GBP 75 mln in a funding round from existing investors to accelerate growth and explore potential acquisitions and mergers. 

The deal focused on enhancing the bank’s status, although its new valuation following the funding has not been disclosed. 

Zopa also unveiled a new cross-industry initiative with credit marketplace ClearScore to strengthen users’ finances. The action focused on four areas: savings (moving deposits from a low point to a high point of interest-yielding accounts and setting up saving pots to make savings work harder), credit building (sighting up a credit-building tool to access more valuable financial products), debt consolidation (using a debt consolidation tool to understand how much could be saved each month by consolidating, while reducing financial obligations), and the utility marketplace (searching for lower priced utility deals on digital markets to save money on one or more monthly payments).