Today Amazon Payment Services, an Amazon company, has announced a new partnership with MENA’s Fintech innovation of the year, valU for installment sales services, to offer payment plans to a wide group of renowned eCommerce stores who have fueled their growth through partnering with Amazon Payment Services. The agreement avails yet another checkout method for Egyptian online shoppers.
The ‘buy now, pay monthly’ service allows valU customers in Egypt to access 3-60 months installment options for online purchases. Amazon Payment Services seamless integration with merchant sites allows customers to checkout with just two clicks. To date, this simple process has helped merchants in the region increase payment success rates by 12%, overall sales by 8-10% while decreasing the number of abandoned online shopping carts by up to 10%.
“We are excited to announce our partnership with valU to allow more merchants to bring buy now, pay monthly services to Egyptian consumers. According to our research, Egyptian consumers prefer to pay in monthly Installments over discount or any other financial incentive,” said Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services.
“In its first phase, all Amazon Payment Services merchants in Egypt will be able to offer the new payment option to the registered customers of valU, wherein the line of credit has already been granted. However, there are also plans to expand the service to offer new payment options to more Egyptian consumers in the near future.”
Catering to both banked and unbanked customers, valU’s ‘buy now, pay monthly’ service gives buyers the flexibility to make larger purchases more frequently online, increasing their purchasing power and allowing them to take advantage of favorable pricing when they see it.
Meanwhile, the process lets eCommerce merchants collect 100% of their sales at the time of purchase, ensuring good cash flow for Egyptian businesses. By breaking down barriers to consumer purchases, the ‘buy now, pay monthly’ service also opens up new opportunities for merchants to build a larger customer base and could play a role in helping increase Egyptian consumer spending power overall.
Launched by EFG Hermes in 2017, valU allows Egyptian customers to purchase a wide range of products and services from over 2,500 merchants via a mobile app built on a sophisticated algorithm. valU customers receive instant credit decisions once they deliver the required documents to valU, while unbanked customers receive feedback within 24-48 hours.
“valU’s mission has been breaking down barriers for Egyptian consumers to empower their aspired lifestyle, and our partnership with Amazon Payment Services marks another step in our mission,” said Mohamed El-Feky, CEO at valU for installment sales services.
“Our strategy has focused on rapid expansion in the e-commerce space, due to the huge potential in that fast-growing sector. Our partnership with Amazon Payment Services, both falls within our strategic objective of exponentially growing our online points of sale and lays the groundwork for valU’s future growth.” El-Feky added.
Amazon Payment Services’ secure payment network is built using sophisticated and up-to-date fraud prevention tools, all while providing flexibility in offering online payments. In addition to providing unrivaled security, Amazon Payment Services’ removes much of the hassle of e-payment implementation for merchants, while giving them full control of the backend.