Amazon and AO.com’s credit card provider NewDay has launched a new fully digital credit card aiming to provide an alternative to rivals like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
NewDay, which provides credit card services for major third-party brands and retailers, launched Bip, which it describes as “the first completely cardless consumer credit proposition in the UK”.
With no physical card, Bip customers can apply and have access to appropriate credit within minutes. Bip can be downloaded via the App Store on Android and can be added to the digital wallet of users’ smartphones then used “anywhere Mastercard is accepted” both in-store and online.
Bip allows customers to set two kinds of spending caps to give them control – including a warning and a freeze cap within the app. Customers can also set spending alerts to ensure they remain in control. They can see how much they could save on interest with the Payment Calculator, allowing them to understand the impact on the interest they will pay by increasing their repayments. Everything is accessed through the Bip app – including a chat function to help customers service their accounts.
The firm has successfully recruited a waiting list of over 30,000 customers through the development and testing of Bip.
NewDay has seen digital wallet and contactless use of its other products more than double in the past year, from around 8% in August 2020 to 20% in June 2021 across customer retail spending. This is in line with wider trends, with 13.7 million people in the UK leading a “cashless life” last year and this accelerating due to the pandemic, and with the UK predicted to be a cashless society by 2026.
Previously, NewDay had launched the ‘Amazon Mastercard’ in partnership with Amazon UK four years ago, offering users a credit card automatically loaded into the Amazon Wallet. In 2019, it launched a credit partnership with AO.com allowing shoppers to spread the cost of purchases through easy and affordable payment options.
Commenting on the new launch, NewDay’s chief commercial officer Ian Corfield said, “We have seen a huge shift in the number of consumers who are swapping their physical wallet for a digital one. Consequently, we believe Bip will have a wide appeal, from early adopters and tech-savvy individuals through to more mainstream consumers who are now more comfortable using their digital wallets for payment.
“This is even more relevant today as changes in spending habits have been dramatically accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, with cash use falling dramatically from 60 per cent to just 15% of transactions, highlighting our acceleration towards becoming a cashless society.”
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