Financial app, Curve said its new buy now pay later (BNPL) service known as Curve Flex builds on the company’s ‘go back in time’ technology, in a move to become the super app for money.
Curve Flex enables customers’ previous payments up to a year ago, at any merchant from any card to convert into, instalment loans.
Curve, one of the fastest-growing financial app obtained the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s approval to provide the BNPL service. Unlike other BNPL options, the instalment plans are not interest-free, instead, you will get an annual percentage rate (APR) based on your profile.
Curve’s new product allows customers to ‘go back in time’. Whether a customer wants to split a retail purchase, place an online order, pay household bill, or simply has an unexpected need for cash, just swipe a transaction and select the number of instalments. The amount is refunded in full almost immediately, giving customers the convenience and control over their money.
Curve Flex has been in testing since September 2020 and over 1,600 customers have used the service. They made around 7,000 transactions into affordable loans worth over GBP1million ($1.37 million)
Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO of Curve said, “Why settle for a rigid copy when you can have the real thing? Curve Flex is almost certainly the most flexible credit solution in the market. With no limitations on merchants and the ability to accommodate all Mastercard, Visa, and Discover cards, Curve Flex will provide customers with access to easy and affordable credit”.
Paul Harrald, head of Curve Credit said, “Curve is giving customers the unprecedented ability to convert transactions made up to a year ago into free or low-interest instalment loans. Being able to go back in time and pay later is going to forever change how UK customers think about managing their personal finances and cash flow”.
Curve Flex converts past payments into instalment loans
The bank and credit card accounts can be connected through the Curve app. All in one place, choose which account to spend from when paying using Curve card. The Curve account has the ‘go back in time’ feature that allows customers to move a payment from one account to another.
To use Curve Flex, swipe a transaction in the app and select the number of instalments either three, six, nine, or 12 months. The transaction amount must be within the limits set by Curve and the merchant should have received the funds before you can use Curve Flex.
In case it takes a couple of days for the money to reflect into the merchant’s account, just wait and select the Curve Flex option. After the money is transferred, the transaction will be refunded in full and should happen almost instantly. The first Flex repayment will be due 30 days after the transaction was refunded.
Curve’ announcement about the BNPL product came shortly after Monzo released the details of its own similarly-named BNPL feature called Monzo Flex.