U.K. Shoppers to Get Buy Now, Pay Later Option at Westfield Malls

(Bloomberg) -- ClearPay Finance Ltd. is partnering with mall landlord Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in the U.K., continuing the buy-now-pay-later provider's expansion into brick and mortar retail globally.

Customers at 13 stores in Westfield's pair of giant London shopping centers will be given the option to pay in installments through ClearPay, which is known as Afterpay outside Europe.

It adds to ClearPay's U.K. partnerships with National Express and London Fashion Week, as well as an existing tie-up with Westfield in the U.S.

ClearPay, whose Australian parent firm was acquired by Block Inc. for $29 billion in January, is working with Westfield to give customers more options in-store as the retail industry recovers from the pandemic, co-founder Anthony Eisen said in an interview with Bloomberg.

“We are fully committed to the U.K market and looking to grow the team,” Eisen said. ClearPay already has 2.5 million active customers in the country and Eisen said buy-now-pay-later could soon account for 10% of e-commerce spending.

The firm has responded to a U.K. consultation on regulating buy-now-pay-later loans, with the results expected this spring. New spending platforms including Klarna and Affirm have grown rapidly, fueled by younger customers who are spreading the cost of purchases while spurning credit cards. They aren't covered by existing rules governing other short-term debt such as payday loans.

The co-founder welcomed regulation and said the process had been one of “engagement and learning,” but appealed to lawmakers “not to stymie competition.”

“The discussions in the U.K. are very similar to the conversations in Australia a few years earlier. Now 15-20% of all Australians use it,” Eisen said at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London.

Buy-now-pay-later differs from credit cards by covering typically smaller purchases and quicker repayments, Eisen said. “We recognize millennials and Gen Z don't want to sit in a world of revolving debt,” he said.