In today's dynamic business landscape, Amazon is revolutionizing financial transactions with its latest offering – a groundbreaking 'Buy Now, Pay Later' option for small business owners. In this article, we will delve into the details of Amazon's strategic move and explore how this innovative financial solution can benefit millions of entrepreneurs.
The Affirmative Partnership
Amazon's recent collaboration with Affirm signifies a major leap in financial technology, extending its 'Buy Now, Pay Later' service to small businesses on its e-commerce platform.1 This strategic alliance aims to empower sole proprietors, addressing the unique financial needs of businesses owned by a single individual. Affirm's Chief Revenue Officer, Wayne Pommen, highlights the importance of this initiative, stating, "The financial industry is not great at providing credit to really small businesses."
Transparent and Tailored Financing
This service, tailored for sole proprietors, offers loans ranging from $100 to $20,000, with repayment periods spanning three to 48 months. Unlike traditional credit cards, the 'Buy Now, Pay Later' option provides transparency, allowing customers to know the upfront interest costs. Affirm's innovative underwriting models determine an annualized interest rate between 10% and 36%, based on the perceived risk of each transaction. Notably, this approach ensures no hidden fees, providing a clear financial picture for small business owners. 2
Nurturing Small Business Growth
Amazon Business, launched in 2015, has witnessed remarkable success, reaching $35 billion in sales this year and serving over 6 million customers globally. 3 According to Todd Heimes, Director of Amazon Business Worldwide, this 'Buy Now, Pay Later' option responds to the pressing needs of small businesses, offering an additional tool to manage cash flow. For many small enterprises, obtaining credit from traditional financial institutions can be challenging, making this alternative financing solution invaluable.
Affirm's Strategic Focus
Affirm's focus on targeting sole proprietors aligns with the prevalent small business landscape in the U.S., where 28 million registered businesses fall into this category. Wayne Pommen emphasizes Affirm's commitment to successful underwriting, stating, "Our assessment is that we can underwrite this very successfully and have the strong performance that we need." This strategic move enhances Affirm's revenue stream and solidifies its position in the evolving fintech industry.
A Glimpse into the Future
As this 'Buy Now, Pay Later' option unfolds, the financial industry witnesses another paradigm shift. Amazon and Affirm's commitment to transparency, flexibility, and tailored financing options reflects the evolving needs of businesses in a dynamic market. Small business owners now have an additional avenue to manage their finances efficiently, ushering in a new era of financial accessibility and convenience.
Amazon's collaboration with Affirm to introduce the 'Buy Now, Pay Later' option for small business owners marks a significant step forward in the financial technology landscape. This initiative aligns with the growing demand for transparent and flexible financing solutions, especially for sole proprietors facing unique challenges. As businesses adapt to these transformative changes, TouchSuite® emerges as a reliable partner, offering innovative payment processing solutions to complement this evolving financial ecosystem.
FOOTNOTES:
- "Amazon Business Adds Affirm as First Buy Now, Pay Later Provider at Checkout", Affirm, November 2, 2023. Affirm
- "Amazon unveils buy now, pay later option from Affirm for small business owners' CNBC, November 2, 2023. CNBC
- "Everything you need to know about Amazon Business, one of Amazon’s fastest-growing ventures", Amazon, April 13, 2023. About Amazon
Author
Writing for Touchsuite, Jonathan Bomser, is a technology and marketing expert with over 30 years of industry experience. He is a businessman, writer, artist and musician. He has vast knowledge of finance, business and technology. Jonathan is currently founding, investing and board advising in several early stage and start up companies. Jonathan has been involved in Technology, Media, Marketing and Advertising for a multitude of Fortune 500 companies for over 30 years.He has served as a strategic, creative and marketing executive and consultant for both parent companies and subsidiaries at AOL, The National Football League, The Walt Disney Company, NBC, MTV, Viacom, Time Warner, USA Today, Alliance Entertainment, WPP, Penguin USA, along with numerous other established companies, start-up ventures and reorganizations.Jonathan was the CEO and Founder of BigLinker.com, which was acquired by Ziff Davis (Nasdaq: ZD) in 2021, CEO and Founder of TownTarget.com from 2013-2015 which was acquired by Touchsuite/American Bancard in 2015 and previously Bomser Payan Interactive Agency from 2008-2012 which was acquired by Big Step Interactive/Digital Marketing Associates. Jonathan was the key developer for the technology used to power many of their successful digital campaigns. Clients included national brands such as Adidas, PNC Bank, Massage Envy, European Wax Center and others.Jonathan has also helped manage the technology initiatives, creative strategies and business development for AIM Pages.com, AOL’s Social Network. Since May 2006, Jonathan has also been consulting for technology, marketing, sales and creative strategies for Veoh.com, BigString.com, Vuguru.com and others. Before consulting for these major companies, Jonathan was a principal in En Pea Productions,Inc. which was a television production company focused on reality television, commercials and music videos. Jonathan is also the former Board Member, CEO and President of WoozyFly.Inc. Trading on under the symbol WZFY.Jonathan's current projects at AccountSend.com, VocalChimp.com and CoolValidator.com
Touchsuite is located in Boca Raton, FL and is a payment processing and point of sale company that specializes in merchant accounts, point of sale systems, Grubbrr self-ordering kiosks.
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