iwoca makes ‘buy now, pay later’ product free for UK SMBs during lockdown

By Megha Bhattacharya

UK-based iwoca recently announced that they will be making their ‘buy now, pay later’ product iwocaPay free throughout the UK’s second national lockdown to support SMBs impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company launched its invoicing product in June 2020 in a bid to reduce the risk in payment terms and encourage SMBs to offer trade credit. It allows customers to choose their repayment term of up to 90 days and enables suppliers to be paid through the company. iwocaPay aims to cater to the needs of both customers and suppliers by improving cash flow in times of crisis. The tool is available to all limited companies and sole traders in the UK for invoices between £150 and £15,000.

iwoca stated that the usual fees for sellers and interest charged over the 90-day duration of the product for buyers will be dropped. Sellers will get 100% of their cash upfront for their invoices whether they are new or outstanding.

“We want to open up our product to help as many people as possible get paid during this time,” said Lara Gilman, Co-lead of iwocaPay. “We now know that lockdown has amplified the challenges SMEs have been battling such as low productivity and late payments, so removing all of iwocaPay’s fees will help ensure the same thing does not happen again.”

“Coronavirus can and should trigger a step-change for small businesses to become more efficient, productive and resilient. We want to help by doing our bit and being there for small businesses when they need us the most.”

Recently, iwoca announced that it has secured funding via the government’s Future Fund scheme. The funding program offers high growth firms with an opportunity to match third party investments of up to £5 million by subscribing for convertible loans issued by such firms.