Plend adopts GoCardless’ open banking payments
Peer-to-peer lending platform Plend has enlisted GoCardless to provide variable recurring payments (VRPs) through its Instant Bank Pay feature.
VRPs are a new form of payment powered by open banking. They are similar to direct debit payments, enabling an organisation to collect payments from a customer on a recurring basis, without asking for permission each time.
Plend will use VRPs alongside GoCardless Direct Debit to offer customers a greater selection of payment choices.
VRPs offer instant payment confirmation and move money more quickly than direct debit, so customers benefit from an up-to-the-minute view of their finances, and it helps lower the incidence of late payments.
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On the back end, VRPs reduce the number of manual tasks for the operations team as more routine work is automated.
The automation means that Plend’s customers will be able to make changes to their payments anytime, tapping into features like payment holidays and interest rate freezes instantly.
“We’re excited to adopt VRPs to make loan repayments truly tailored to each customer, especially as the cost-of-living crisis continues,” said Plend co-founder and chief technology officer Jamie Pursaill.
“In addition to making the process smoother, our team can use VRPs to be more responsive to customers who are missing payments or in financial difficulty, reaching them faster and hopefully coming to a resolution even sooner. Plus, we can pass on the savings from our efficiency gains to our customers in the form of lower APRs.”
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VRPs offer speed, transparency and control, and instant payment confirmation instead of the two to three-day wait with direct debit.
In addition, with direct debit you can only see the mandate and the last amount taken, and you must cancel or amend your payment in advance. VRPs allow you to manage your mandate and payment parameters within your banking app and they can be cancelled or amended right up to the moment before a payment is taken.
“We’re proud to support Plend as they broaden financial inclusion through smarter credit decisioning,” said GoCardless UK managing director and chief customer officer Pat Phelan.
“The use of cutting-edge technology to personalise their offering is at the heart of their business model, so it’s no surprise they plan to introduce VRPs to offer greater flexibility for their customers. We can’t wait to see the benefits of VRPs come to life through this use case.”
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