Milan, 9 May 2024 – Scalapay, a leading “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) platform in Southern Europe, and Deutsche Bank, one of the largest European banking institutions with a global network, today announced a strategic partnership that represents a milestone in the evolution of BNPL and, more broadly, of consumer credit. This is the first time that a fintech operating in this segment and a banking institution have joined forces to create a more integrated and innovative financial ecosystem serving both consumers and businesses.
Scalapay and Deutsche Bank are joining forces to innovate the consumer credit sector in Italy, expanding the opportunities available to the platform’s merchant partners as well as to consumers. On the one hand, the partnership enables the bank to expand its presence in the consumer credit sector, particularly online, while leveraging Scalapay’s extensive expertise in optimising the customer experience. On the other hand, it allows the BNPL platform to enrich its range of services, introducing new instalment payment options suited to higher-value purchases or products and services with recurring use.
To date, Scalapay has enabled its 6 million users to make purchases online and in-store, allowing them to split payments into 3 or 4 instalments for purchases of up to €5,000. Now, thanks to this collaboration, the range of instalment payment solutions is expanding, giving customers in Italy the option to choose between BNPL offered directly by Scalapay or 6, 9 and 12 instalments provided by Deutsche Bank. In addition, to meet longer-term financing needs, Deutsche Bank’s consumer credit option will be available for up to 36 instalments on purchases of up to €15,000. This new solution aligns with the subscription economy megatrend, which is based on the idea of spreading the cost of a service over the period in which it is used, helping consumers optimise their spending.
Simone Mancini, CEO of Scalapay, commented: “We are delighted to announce this partnership, expanding our offering for merchants and our base of 6 million customers. This collaboration allows us to simplify the shopper experience, including in more traditional contexts such as consumer credit. Working with Deutsche Bank, a leader in consumer credit as well as in the banking sector, is an important milestone that enables us to innovate beyond the boundaries of traditional BNPL.”
Marco Colombo, Head of B2B at Deutsche Bank in Italy, added: “The journey we have embarked on with Scalapay, a leading BNPL fintech, represents an important opportunity to accelerate the digital evolution of our business, in line with the Group’s digital strategy, and to expand our presence in the e-commerce sector, further enriching the range of products and services we offer to meet the needs of consumers and merchants.”