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Amazon is giving customers in Egypt access to buy now, pay later (BNPL) thanks to a consumer financing offering from valU Consumer Finance.
According to multiple media accounts, valU will offer the payment method on amazon.eg to eligible customers, who will gain the option to divide their cost into multiple payments.
As part of the agreement, Amazon will acquire $10 million in the global depositary receipts of EFG Hermes, the investment bank that owns valU. The deal gives Amazon the option to replace that investment into valU at a later date, which comes out to a stake of 4.255% of the issued share capital of valU.
valU is a leading BNPL provider in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Last year, the company formed a partnership with online marketplace Jumia that links valU and the JumiaPay service, giving clients nine months of interest-free installments when shopping on the Jumia platform.
Jumia has also tried to tap into the popularity of BNPL in North Africa by joining forces last year with the National Bank of Egypt and other banking institutions to give consumers a chance to use its BNPL service at zero interest.
Through the agreement, consumers using JumiaPay could spread payments over two years using credit cards from institutions including Banque Misr and Alexandria Bank. Jumia also offered a 10% discount on both Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and Banque Misr ATM cards.
As PYMNTS reported last year, Egypt has taken part in the global BNPL boom as inflation there puts a strain on consumer finances.
“[…] There is a huge opportunity for buy now, pay later here in Egypt, given its very populous market,” Mohamed El-Feky, founder of FinTech Sympl, said last year after the company raised $6 million in seed funding. “It’s a consumer purchase-driven market where we have a lot of accessibility to consumer products and services, online or offline.”
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