Laybuy's Australian, NZ arms go into receivership

Laybuy, which paused new customer purchases and suspended its platform at the beginning of July 2024, appointed officials from Deloitte Australia as receivers for its Australian branch. Its operations in New Zealand, where the fintech was founded, are also under receivership. The BNPL provider’s UK business, and other select elements of the broader Laybuy group, are not under receivership.

Commenting on this decision, company representatives said they had been working hard to execute a plan to achieve profitability after years of rapid growth. While they have been making good progress since 2022, the economic downturn has been longer than they expected, and this has had a significant impact on the retail sector in both New Zealand and the UK. As a result, they have seen reduced consumer spending, higher credit losses, and increased fraudulent activity. This, alongside increased financing costs, created a perfect storm that was difficult to recover from. As a result, they placed much of the business in receivership.

Laybuy’s platform remains offline, with customers unable to sign up or make new purchases through the service. Customers are still able to make repayments on outstanding purchases.

While Buy Now, Pay Later services themselves provide upfront payment to merchants when a customer makes a purchase, questions remain over how customers can access refunds through the platform. The company is currently assessing the situation with respect to refunds.

What does Laybuy do?

Laybuy is a Buy Now, Pay Later service that allows consumers to purchase items and pay for them over six weekly instalments with 0% interest or fees, provided payments are made on time.

The service partners with merchants, enabling retailers to offer flexible payment options both in-store and online. Laybuy aims to enhance the shopping experience by providing greater financial flexibility for customers while ensuring that the costs associated with the service are borne by the merchant.