Amazon extends buy now, pay later to business customers
Buy now pay later (BNPL) payment is now available for Amazon Business purchases.
Amazon is expanding an existing partnership with financial products and services company Affirm to make Affirm the first pay-over-time payment option for its Amazon Business business-to-business (B2B) online storefront.
As a result, Amazon Business customers can now split the total cost of eligible purchases and pay over time with Affirm, without late or hidden fees. Amazon Business will start to roll out Affirm on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 to eligible sole proprietor businesses, and the new payment option will be available at checkout to all eligible Amazon Business sole proprietor customers by Black Friday, Nov. 24.
This collaboration marks the launch of Affirm’s new B2B pay-over-time solution dedicated to serving sole proprietors. By selecting Affirm at checkout on Amazon Business and entering a few pieces of information, such as registered business name and business address, small business owners will receive an instant credit decision.
If approved, they can select from customized pay-over-time options of three to 48 months. Customers looking to use Affirm through Amazon Business can do so using the Amazon Business website and Amazon Business mobile app.
“We’re constantly striving to make Amazon Business the best place for small businesses to fulfill their buying needs. Integrating Affirm as a payment option helps us do just that, while providing more flexibility and convenience to our customers,” said Todd Heimes, director of Amazon Business Worldwide. “The technology, ease of integration, and ability to support a broad range of transactions—especially as Affirm is already used by millions of Amazon customers today—make this a natural extension of our larger partnership.”
“According to the IRS, more than 28 million sole proprietorships do business in the United States. By offering these business owners a transparent and flexible way to pay over time for the items they need, we can help them increase their purchasing power, better manage their cash flow, and accelerate their growth,” said Wayne Pommen, Affirm chief revenue officer. “We’re incredibly proud to be bringing this buy now, pay later payment option to the millions of sole proprietors shopping on Amazon Business.”
Amazon has a history with BNPL
Amazon initially partnered with Affirm in August 2021 to enable select customers to split the total cost of purchases of $50 or more into monthly installment payments. Affirm expanded to Amazon’s Canadian site in 2022, and was directly integrated as a payment option on Amazon Pay earlier this year.
In June 2021, the e-tailer began offering the Afterpay flexible payment option via the Afterpay mobile app to pay in four interest-free installments. Other BNPL options Amazon offers shoppers include enabling Prime Visa and Amazon Visa cardmembers to pay with equal monthly payment options when using the Amazon Pay solution during checkout at participating online retailers.
In addition, the Citi Flex Pay on Amazon Pay solution giving eligible Citi credit card members the option to pay over time when using the Amazon Pay digital wallet application at participating online retailers. The Amazon e-commerce site and mobile app also accept Citi Flex Pay.