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Citi Australia Enters Buy Now, Pay Later Market in Challenge to Local Competitors

Citi Australia, the Australian arm of the banking giant Citibank, has entered into the Buy Now, Pay Later market in challenge to local companies like AfterPay and Zip which have already been doing good business in this lucrative segment.

The bank has already tied up with a local partner in kogan.com where users would be able to shop and then when they come to check out online, they would be presented with an option to enter into an instalment loan with the bank. For this, they need to enter their Citibank card details, and instalments of 3,12,18 and 24 months are available for the users to choose from.

Citi’s head of cards and loans Choong Yu Lum said, “The buy now pay later sector has seen rapid growth, increasing five-fold in the last two years alone We think it’s great for consumer choice that there are a number of players offering buy now pay later options. At Citi, we aim to target those consumers who are more comfortable using a traditional lender.”

This service would be available at launch in October and to avail of this service, the user needs to have a valid Citibank credit card. Though many people are very careful about debt nowadays and want to avoid them as much as possible, they are also ready to try out new options as far as debt is concerned. The new and younger generation are likely the ones who most use such services and though they are also careful about debt, it is expected that they would prefer such lending instruments to ease their burden and help them to purchase items and equipment which they would normally think twice before doing so.

The buy now, pay later option is also a sector that has been seeing large growth over the last couple of years as the users have been struggling to make ends meet with many people losing their jobs and looking to see where they would be able to make their purchases. This instalment option has been a top choice for such users who want to be careful when it comes to risk and money during this period and with a credible financial firm entering into the fray, the users are likely to have more reliable choices in the future which is expected to push the volumes even higher in the coming months. The non-traditional companies that are in this field for the past few years are going to face increasing competition.