How ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Powers Financial Inclusion In Africa- Fehintolu Olaogun, CredPal CEO

Businesses, governments and development institutions all over Africa are keen on financial inclusion, determined to help more people access formal financial services. However, while there have been improvements, organised consumer credit on the continent is still largely limited.

Thankfully, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) presents an opportunity to fill this gap. It is gaining popularity globally and is projected to reach $3.98 trillion by 2030. Startups on the continent are a part of this global movement, increasing the credit opportunities offered to African consumers. As a result, the credit aspect of financial inclusion is poised to see significant growth as BNPL develops.

Fehintolu Olaogun, the CEO and co-founder of CredPal, a fast-growing consumer credit startup based in Lagos, answered some crucial questions about the impact of BNPL on financial inclusion in Africa.

• Please share some background on CredPal’s products and how well received they are in the market?

CredPal was established by me and my longtime friend, Olorunfemi Jegede, in 2018. An idea that started in a one-room office has managed to be one of the fastest-growing Buy now, pay later startups in Africa.

We’re building credit solutions to transform buying experience and drive financial inclusion for the African consumer. The business delivers a flexible payment option that allows African consumers to buy from merchants online and in-store while spreading payment over time.

Our Buy now, pay later product caters to users who want to make purchases. In my opinion, it is more empowering to help consumers purchase items that supplement or improve their lifestyle rather than offer them cash loans which really may not even be used for the purpose that it was borrowed.

We’ve had users make their first credit purchase through CredPal. This is a big deal; we’re letting people know that financial buoyancy isn’t necessarily a determinant of credit access.

There’s also our partnership with over 13,000 merchants across various industries. As a result, CredPal users enjoy more flexible purchase experiences, and these merchants are also empowered with the right tools to reach more customers achieve increased sales and business growth.

• Providing credit is an important part of driving financial inclusion, how would you say CredPal’s products contribute to financial inclusion in Africa?

Different barriers limit consumers, and three of them that we’re combatting at CredPal are; access, depth, and ease.

With access and ease, the challenges vary from poor physical proximity to lending institutions to consumers with insufficient credit profiles. But we’ve been able to level the playing field through our mobile apps, merchant partnerships with CredPal agents in stores, and referral programs.

When my co-founder and I started CredPal, it was on the premise that we wanted to mainstream consumer credit in Africa because of how cash-driven our economy was and improve the consumer spending lifestyle, which was more of pay as you earn.

Our flagship product, Buy Now, Pay Later, has transformed the lifestyle of over half of our users. The ability to extend your finances beyond what you earn to purchase items that’ll improve your life is something that excites us. We’ve received many testimonials from our users that prove how this contributes to credit inclusion in Africa.

With the hundreds of thousands of users we have, we’ve provided access to credit and extended it to first-time credit users, which has helped them build a credit profile to access tremendous credit opportunities such as mortgages or car loans. Generally, we have been able to increase African consumers’ purchasing power, which has translated to a better standard of living.

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SOURCE: AFRICA.COM