What Is "Buy Now Pay Later" (BNPL)?
"Buy Now Pay Later" (BNPL) is an option in Spectora that allows clients to pay for home inspection services over time. It's different from "Pay at Close," offering clients flexibility during the home-buying process without immediate financial strain.
BNPL is more versatile than "Pay at Close", which is generally limited to residential home inspections. With BNPL, your clients have financial breathing room, as payments start a month after the inspection. This flexibility encourages clients to consider additional services, enhancing their overall experience. Unlike "Pay at Close," BNPL avoids the risk of chasing payments.
How Buy Now Pay Later Works
Using BNPL involves a few simple steps!
Your client chooses to pay for your services via a BNPL provider.
They then go through a quick process of approval (soft credit check) by providing some basic information to the BNPL provider. If they go through with the purchase via a BNPL provider the provider may report the account to the credit bureaus approximately 30 days after the purchase.
If approved they will be presented with options for paying for the services over time with the specifics being variable dependent on the provider chosen and the client's credit health.
If they proceed with an option from a BNPL provider, they will provide the payment to your company (via Stripe as other current payment methods) less a fee (indicated below).
The client will have agreed to a payment plan as part of their agreement with the BNPL provider to pay over time.
Which payment plan the client chooses will determine when they make their payments. Sometimes it will be the initial payment and then a payment every couple of weeks for 4 payments in total. Some will be the initial payment and then monthly payments until the balance is paid in full.
The payment, minus the BNPL fee, is then provided to your company through Stripe. Speaking of fees, let's go over that now.
BNPL Fee - What Does it Cost Me/My Company?
As with any payment option, there is a fee for using BNPL payments. We understand that fees are never fun, but we want to be transparent and upfront with our inspectors.
Unlike a flat fee for "Pay at Close," the BNPL fee is 8% + $0.30/transaction based on the inspection charge. BNPL is versatile, and applicable to any Spectora inspection service, while "Pay at Close" is generally limited to residential home inspections. For example, if your average home inspection costs $450, the fee for using BNPL payments would be $36.30. This fee is in place to cover the cost of the inspection and processing of the payment through Stripe.
While BNPL incurs a fee, the potential increase in revenue and client satisfaction often outweighs the cost.
When Do I Receive My Money?
You will receive the funds within 1-2 business days minus the fee. If the payment is made early in the day, you will receive the funds the same day. If the payment is done later in the evening or over a weekend/holiday, you will receive the funds the next business day.
Why Would I Use BNPL Payments?
BNPL payment options give your clients some breathing room when it comes to paying for inspection services. Many may feel that the price is tough to bear when they are trying to maintain cash on hand for the close of the home they are purchasing. In many cases, the first recurring BNPL payments after the initial payment is a month out from the purchase of the inspection services.
Clients are more likely to book additional services that would benefit their situation and that you offer when the payment for these services can be spread out over time. They want to make sure that they are getting the best quality and most robust services appropriate before moving forward with what is likely the largest purchase they will ever make.
BNPL payment options don't require that you as an inspector or company open yourself to the risk of chasing down payment for your services if you would like to offer pay at close type of options for your clients.
BNPL payment options carry a reasonable fee (typically less per inspection than current pay at close fees for 3rd party vendors) considering the uplift in revenue that offering the options provides.
How Do I Enable These Payment Options?
This guide will walk you through the necessary steps to activate this feature and start offering it to your customers. Follow the instructions below to get started.
 💡 Quick tip: Click on the video above to expand it in another window. |
Click "Settings"
Click "Payments"
Check the box "Enable Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)"
If you don't see this option make sure you click the option to Disable Pass On CC Fees. An inspection cannot have the option for both passing on CC fees and BNPL
You can enable for all inspections by checking the box. If you'd prefer to use it per inspection, leave the box unchecked.
Click "Affirm"
If the BNPL option is selected for all inspections, your clients will see a notation on the Online Scheduler indicating that Affirm is available to be used as payment for the services they sign up for
Your clients will see options for Pay Now and Pay Later on their client portal when the BNPL option is enabled
Once they choose Pay Later, they will see the checkout options for one or both BNPL options. (Note - Afterpay is not available at this time)
That's all there is to it! By using BNPL payments, you can offer your clients more flexibility with their payments, potentially increase your revenue, and avoid the hassle of chasing down payments. If you'd like to start using BNPL payments, simply opt into the feature in your Spectora account settings.
🌟 Pro-tip: If you are not seeing the BNPL option on an inspection, you will need to disable the pass on credit card fees option under "More" on the Inspection Details page:
FAQ
Is there a way to pass the BNPL fee on to the client?
Unfortunately, we are unable to pass on those fees to our clients when BNPL is utilized. This is due to the fact that in many states, it could potentially implicate you, the inspection company, as a lender. As you may know, this comes with various compliance requirements that we want to ensure you are not burdened with.
Can the BNPL be turned on only for certain products?
We currently don't have the option to activate BNPL for specific products or services. However, you can still utilize it on a per-inspection basis and manually enable it.
Will the BNPL mess with the loan process?
No. The credit check is simply a soft inquiry and should not have any impact on the loan process. Rest assured, the client will only have a new account reported on their credit after approximately 30 days.
I'm seeing an error with Affirm stating "Affirm payment does not support shipping country as United States, it only supports US." What does this mean?
In the Inspection Details, make sure that the property address is listed as "US" and not United States.
If you have any questions or feedback, write into our chat bubble or email support@spectora.com!
