The introduction of personalization in BNPL on the Russian market is a matter of the next couple of years. In addition to the technical capabilities that market leaders definitely have, the level of user comfort with the new product is also important.
Let's remember the times when people couldn't get bulgaria whatsapp phone number used to plastic cards instead of cash. The same is true with new financial instruments today.
Going offline
One of the most difficult but interesting development tasks is opening access to BNPL offline. Online commerce accounts for less than 15% of total turnover, which means that to build a really big business, going offline is a must.
BNPL services is how to assess a client’s risk in real time when they buy goods in a store. Russian companies are already looking for a way to provide the opportunity to use installments or BNPL offline. For example, T-Bank allows customers to pay for goods in full with a debit card, and then activate installments for a specific purchase through the app.
In the global experience, Affirm and Klarna's experiments with issuing a debit card with a built-in BNPL limit are interesting. Clients received the "check your limit" function in the application, allowing them to quickly check whether their limit is enough to purchase a certain product before it arrives at the checkout.
A potential alternative to existing solutions is the integration of BNPL services with POS systems at checkouts. In this case, BNPL will become an additional payment option along with cash or a card. The buyer will be able to choose to pay BNPL, scan a QR code or enter a phone number into the BNPL provider's system and receive an offer to split the amount into several payments on the spot.
In May 2024, BNPL service Sezzle, in partnership with a POS provider, launched a similar mechanic in the American market.
AI Integration
AI is already actively used in banking, and BNPL will follow this scenario. The most striking examples of using AI for BNPL are improving customer service (chats, support service, etc.), as well as risk scoring - one of the most important elements of the BNPL unit economy.
From the service point of view, one of the promising areas of development is improving the recognition of audio and text requests. When a service user (including BNPL) calls or writes to the support service, the biggest problem is clearly defining what exactly the client’s request is.
Unlike AI, humans are bad at recognizing and deciphering other people's words. That's why call center agents often can't quickly solve a task or problem.