A UK FinTech offering consumers a new and more flexible way to finance travel in a post COVID-19 world has raised a further £10m in Series A funding.
Fly Now Pay Later, founded by CEO Jasper Dykes in London, secured the equity investment co-led by asset management firms Revenio Capital and Taurus Wealth Advisors, and builds on the £35m of equity and debt Series A investment raised at the beginning of last year.
The alternative payments provider enables customers to spread the cost of a trip over up to 12 monthly instalments by partnering with leading travel merchants or directly to consumers through its Anywhere app.
Hundreds of travel companies use Fly Now Pay Later to offer finance from as little as 0% APR to holidaymakers, who can make repayments in affordable scheduled instalments. Its merchant partnerships range from SME travel operators to leading operators like Malaysian Airlines, Lastminute.com and TravelUp.
Leisure domestic travel in the United States has been less impacted than Europe, with continued interstate flights operating at around “75 percent of pre-pandemic levels” during peak holiday season, according to Dykes.
The FCA regulated firm has been laying foundations and beta testing its proprietary payments technology within the US for the past six months.
And with online US commercial aviation spend over $100 billion annually, (Statista), Fly Now Pay Later will use the new investment to build out and scale its operational footprint in the world’s largest travel market.
“The last 12 months have been an unprecedented period for the commercial travel sector with the worst slow down ever recorded in history,” said Dykes. “And while we’re not out of the woods, there are glimmers of hope.
“After more than a year of being in our homes, people are itching to dust off their suitcases globally.
“The recovery of travel is likely to be gradual, but when it happens, we hope that by giving people the freedom to book a trip and pay at a pace that works for them, will help spur reservations.
“There are tens of thousands of people who have families around the world who need a frictionless way to finance their flights.
“By removing financial boundaries, we hope to open the post-covid-19 world for travellers and reconnect people with their friends and families around the globe.
“Since launch, we have been on a mission to make travel more accessible and affordable for more people, by providing payment flexibility at the click of a button.
“Our proprietary platform has been designed to make instantaneous credit decisions – providing highly tailored and digestible payment options to consumers traditionally underserved by existing credit institutions.”
The alternative travel payment provider currently employs 70 staff in the UK and is aiming to support each market over the next year in line with customer demand and as travel restrictions ease.
It can be used to book flights, hotels, package holidays, car hire and more and offers frictionless payment options to support businesses and the end consumer.