THG PLC (LSE:THG), the e-commerce retail company, will offer buy now, pay later (BNPL) services to customers across its sites after inking a deal with provider NewDay, which will undertake affordability checks on potential customers.
NewDay will provide the service via Newpay, its digital credit account that allows consumers to spread purchases across monthly payments, which has been integrated into THG’s checkout page.
The offering is available across several of THG’s brands, including Lookfantastic and Myprotein, according to the website Chargedretail.
Affordability checks on consumers will be undertaken by Newpay to ensure shoppers are only offered credit when they can pay back purchases over a six-month period.
NewDay is a consumer credit company and is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), unlike most other services such as Klarna.
Klarna’s pay-in-three instalments and pay-in-30 days services are not regulated by the FCA, according to Klarna’s own website.
Not all BNPL products are regulated yet, although last summer the FCA said it will regulate the space, with use of BNPL products having increased among all ages, according to a recent survey.
Around 54% of 18–24-year-olds expect to take out a loan in 2023, up 6% on last year, whilst demand among 65+ year-olds increased by almost 10% with a fifth of respondents expecting to use the deal.