By Derek Cikes, Commercial Director at Payflex

South Africans are desperate for innovative payment solutions that don’t involve credit traps. In response to a soaring debt crisis due to the miseducation of credit and lending terms and conditions – both on credit cards and store cards – philanthropic South Africans in their hundreds have been paying off other people’s store lay-bye debt, according to businessinsider.

It begs the question though, what is available for online shoppers and is there a way to avoid credit in all its disguises entirely? The answer is yes and they’re called ‘Buy-Now Pay-Later’ solutions (BNPL) that offer interest-free, zero-fee shopping with no catches, are going to war with SA’s debt problem on behalf of online consumers.

“There is a way that shoppers can avoid debt all together, shop responsibly and get ownership of their goods immediately,” explains Payflex CEO, Paul Behrmann. Payflex is leading the charge in disrupting the way shoppers buy online. The company, based in Illovo Johannesburg, already has thousands of South African customers and over 100 stores signed up for Payflex.

The problem with store Lay-byes is that you never really own the goods until you’ve paid in full. Online solutions such as Payflex, allow you to own the goods immediately while they pay the merchant directly and take on all the risk.

“This is a solution where everyone wins. The merchant can boost their sales by 20 to 30% through larger baskets and improved conversion while the buyer gets to own their goods right away while shopping responsibly and avoiding any debt whatsoever,” explains Behrmann.

In other countries, millions of people are already using BNPL solutions like these such as Klarna, Afterpay (global giant in this industry) and Zip Payments. Behrmann believes it’s not a question of if but when South Africans will turn their backs on destructive interest rates and choose more responsible solutions instead.

Payflex is available on leading online stores across South Africa including South Africa’s largest fashion online retailer, Superbalist.com

Content provided by Talking Point Communications