MASTERCARD, Inc. partnered with Indian firm Pine Labs for a new installment payment scheme in the Philippines.
“The solution will be rolled out in Thailand and the Philippines in February, followed shortly by Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia,” they said in a joint statement on Monday.
Through the partnership, credit, debit, and bank cardholders will have access to installment payment schemes for both in-store and online merchants at checkout.
“For merchants, being able to offer installments at checkout directly influences consumer buying behavior that leads to an increase in the average ticket size, reduces cart abandonment, and results in higher sales,” Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice-president of Mastercard’s products and innovation in Asia-Pacific, said in a statement.
“Installment options complement Mastercard’s wide range of payment programs and align completely with Mastercard’s mission of fostering an integrated, inclusive digital economy and delivering great checkout experiences with payments that are secure, simple, and smart,” he added.
A study by Mastercard showed 43% of consumers in Asia Pacific are willing to increase their spending by at least 15% if allowed to pay in installments.
Separately, a research by Coherent Market Insights showed the global “pay later” market will expand to $33.6 billion by 2027 from $7.6 billion in 2019.
“We are opening new and innovative ways for consumers to decide how they shop and pay while empowering merchants, banks and other lenders to join this growing trend of consumer financing at checkout that has become even more popular during COVID-19,” said Pine Labs Chief Executive Officer B. Amrish Rau.
In the Philippines, household spending, which makes up about 70% of the economy, continued to drag the gross domestic product in the third quarter. Household spending shrank 9.3% in the third quarter, after a 15.3% fall in the second quarter and a reversal from the 6% expansion a year earlier. — Luz Wendy T. Noble
