An estimated $680 billion buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) transaction volume will be processed annually by 2025, says Sileon’s CPO. But building an agnostic and scalable BNPL solution can delay time-to-market by years. Sileon’s SaaS BNPL platform reduces this to weeks.  

Fifty-six percent of users prefer to purchase through a BNPL option rather than a credit card. The main reasons for this are that BNPL solutions are easier to make payments on, offer more flexibility, and offer lower interest rates. 

Perhaps even more telling is that the rate of buyers using BNPL in the USA rose a stunning 80% between 2020 and 2021.  

“The younger generation expects payment methods to be relevant, convenient, and fast,” says Bahareh Zand, CPO at Sileon, a Swedish fintech company that provides SaaS BNPL functionality to banks, fintechs, and global merchants. 

Indeed, 40% of BNPL users in the United States in 2020 were Gen-Zers — that cohort born between 1997 and 2012. It is also a cohort with a spending power of $360 billion — and a tendency to be thrifty. BNPL is the ideal solution for them. 

The message is clear: Failure to provide a convenient BNPL payment option in a product will shut the door to a major consumer segment that is getting bigger by the day.  

“But building an in-house BNPL solution can take years,” says Zand. “Using Sileon’s API-based platform, companies can implement an end-to-end BNPL solution under their own brand within weeks.” 

“Using Sileon’s API-based platform, companies can implement an end-to-end BNPL solution under their own brand within weeks.”  

Bahareh Zand, CPO Sileon

Why is BNPL challenging to develop? 

“Complexity and aged infrastructure prevent many companies from easily building a BNPL solution,” Zand tells NFM. “Legacy systems don’t communicate well with each other, and implementing a BNPL platform that lasts requires an enormous investment in tech and skills.”  

Instead, many companies choose to team up with a partner who has BNPL as its core business, as well as the experience in developing agnostic, modern platforms. 

Sileon is that company. The Sileon team numbers more than 50 people, and the majority of those work in Product and Tech. ”Product and Tech are the heart of the company,” Zand says. “We believe in innovation and in providing a simple solution to a complicated problem.” 

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How is Sileon different? 

Unlike conventional BNPL solutions, Sileon’s platform lets banks and fintechs offer BNPL under their own brand. Ownership of the customer dialogue and customer relationship remains entirely with the fintech, bank, or merchant that is using Sileon’s SaaS platform.  

Through Sileon, BNPL is plugged into the company’s system via API calls, and it’s all done modularly.  

“We chose a modular approach for two reasons,” Zand says. “Firstly, it ensures that the platform can evolve over time so it always stays relevant and meets the changing market and consumer demand. But it also gives companies the full flexibility to start small and then scale up, such as by adding additional credit products and\or markets.” 

Sileon has been built entirely agnostically and for a global market. The product can be easily configured through a polished and intuitive user interface. “The underlying technology in our platform might be advanced and sophisticated,” says Zand, “but the user interface was developed for easy navigation and management.” 

A BNPL platform that lasts 

In computer programming, a Happy Path or Happy Flow is when everything goes according to plan. In BNPL, that means the purchaser has a great credit score and they keep up their payments with no problem until the product is fully paid. 

The Unhappy Flow is when things go wrong, such as when payments are not made, credit cards suddenly don’t work, refunds occur, and dozens of other potential problems that could arise during the BNPL lifecycle.  

“Building BNPL for one single credit product covering a Happy Flow is easy,” says Zand. “But building a platform that caters for flexibility to scale is complicated. The combinations of modules, settings, restrictions, options, happy and unhappy flows are countless.” 

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Yet Sileon has built a platform that achieves precisely this, with both Happy and Unhappy Flow users moving through its system seamlessly. Sileon itself remains entirely behind the scenes, empowering its clients and helping them exceed their consumers’ BNPL expectations.   

Sileon is now listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market and reported strong growth in revenue for Q2 2022.  It recently partnered with Visa, and the credit card company has this to say about it:  

“Sileon is one of the most exciting companies in this segment,” says Philip Konopik, Nordic Manager, Visa. “Therefore, Visa is extremely pleased to expand our collaboration with this investment. “Through the collaboration with Sileon, our customers can offer a competitive product and take a position in a rapidly growing market.” 

The launch of Sileon’s global SaaS platform is on schedule for early 2023.