Santander is to launch a new buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform called Zinia, which supports artificial intelligence-based credit assessment technology.
Zinia’s BNPL service facilitates the opportunity for customers to pay for goods and services via interest-free instalments, either whilst shopping online or through physical points of sale. For partner merchants, Zinia allows them to offer customers a contemporary and secure payment option, improving the customer experience, increasing sales and business retention as a result.
The platform uses artificial intelligence-based credit assessment technology developed by Openbank to process real-time credit decisions with the standards expected from a regulated bank. That, combined with Santander Consumer Finance’s (SCF) scale, and long-standing relationships with merchants makes Zinia a unique offering.
SCF is a consumer finance bank with a presence in 16 European countries, USA and Canada offering products and services to more than 19 million customers and 130,000 points of sale.
The platform has been operating within the German market for the past year, acquiring more than two million customers in the process. This strong debut has catapulted Santander into being one of the leading players within Europe’s BNPL space by way of customer volumes.
The bank now plans to roll out the service across its other markets under the Zinia brand, starting first in the Netherlands, leveraging Santander’s existing position in Consumer finance, where it already supports 19 million customers through 63,000 affiliated merchants.
According to the CEO of Openbank and Santander Consumer Finance, Ezequiel Szafir: “We’re launching a new platform that offers consumers a convenient and flexible payment option with the security and trust provided by a large financial group like Santander. We are delighted with Zinia’s early expansion and aim to become a leader in the buy now, pay later market.”
