Empower partners with flexible, brandable BNPL solutions

Bryce Deeney was a payments executive working at a credit union when he saw first-hand the impact of buy now, pay later (BNPL) activity on the debit portfolio. Cardholders, who were unable to find the services they wanted in the credit union's banking solution suite, were opting to work with third-party fintechs that provided the payment options they wanted, such as BNPL. Deeney, along with global security architect Arthur Miller and program expert Bill Simmons, founded equipifi in September 2021 to improve BNPL service offerings. The company, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., helps banks and credit unions not only address existing gaps, but also redefine BNPL as a flexible financing solution, stated Pat Scherz, chief experience officer at equipifi.

Scherz pointed out that his company helps financial institutions democratize access to flexible financing while keeping their customers' overall financial health and goals top of mind. He also said, "equipifi powers BNPL solutions offered by financial institutions, making its BNPL experience more streamlined, lower risk, and aligned with cardholders' financial goals."

Driving customer longevity

Scherz additionally noted that equipifi, unlike numerous other BNPL service providers, is holistically focused on clients' customers, which helps financial institutions drive revenue growth and extend customer lifecycles. And he cited the following examples:

• Enhanced decisioning: The company's proprietary decision engine leverages key data points inside of a financial institution's banking core to generate abundant high-quality BNPL offers.
• Extended debit card rails: The company's ability to extend existing debit card rails exceeds the capabilities of traditional credit lines.
• Improved customer experience: The company's mobile banking integration improves the customer experience allowing consumers to view, accept and manage BNPL plans without leaving their existing mobile banking app.

The company's white-label BNPL solution "integrates with banks and credit unions to curate offers that consumers can view, accept, and manage within their existing banking apps," Scherz said. "By offering BNPL, financial institutions enable their debit cardholders to pay for purchases in a way that aligns with their financial goals."

Fostering innovation

Scherz credited equipifi co-founders Bryce Deeney, CEO; Arthur Miller, chief technology officer; and Bill Simmons, chief program officer, for the company's exponential growth and highly energized team of 22 employees. The company closed a $3 million seed round in September 2021 and $12 million Series A in May 2022. In addition, Scherz noted, equipifi joined the Symitar vendor integration program in November 2021 and has more partnerships and integrations ahead on its near-term product roadmap.

"Look out for us in the news in the coming months," Scherz said. "We'll be announcing several mobile banking partnerships and integrations, as well as some strategic partnerships in the card processing and card brand networks." Scherz went on to say that equipifi supports the entire commerce value chain, providing solutions for payments industry partners, financial institutions and cardholders.

Empowering commerce

Tony Dubey, cloud solutions architect at equipifi, stated there is nothing more rewarding than building software and cloud infrastructure from the ground up. He also noted that equipifi solutions empower commerce in the following ways:

• Payment processors: equipifi provides merchant acquirers, ISOs and payment processors with an open ecosystem designed to supercharge advanced, branded, customizable and competitively priced BNPL solutions.
• Financial institutions: equipifi enables financial institutions and credit unions to provide their cardholders with one place to access flexible financing for everyday purchases.
• Cardholders: equipifi enables cardholders to spread debit card purchases out over time through flexible payment methods provided by their own trusted banks and credit unions.

"In my 25 years of building software, equipifi is the most exciting thus far," Dubey said. "As a team, we have achieved so many great things in such a short period of time. We can't wait for everyone to see and use our product."

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