DivideBuy, the leading UK Point of Sale (POS) finance pioneer, has today announced a partnership with Salesforce, the world's foremost cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform, to offer instant onboarding for DivideBuy’s merchants and partners.

In yet another disruptive innovation DivideBuy has made in the POS credit space, LendTech’s partnership with Salesforce promises to break records in merchant onboarding times, accelerating the uptake of POS finance among customers in more verticals. Crucially, DivideBuy’s merchants will be able to refer their own partners to DivideBuy and benefit from en-masse instant onboarding, a major competitive advantage that will enable them to offer POS finance solutions to wider customer bases straight away.

With DivideBuy occupying a unique space in the POS finance market by being both a tech solution provider and lender, the partnership will future-proof DivideBuy’s award-winning SaaS technology platform even further. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer intuitive customer relationship management (CRM), DivideBuy will empower merchants to tap into enhanced self-serve capabilities and automated process improvements, including dynamic real-time data insights that can inform peak sales event strategies and performance forecasts for key retail dates like Black Friday and the Golden Quarter period.

Usage of POS finance and interest-free credit is surging worldwide, with the latest research suggesting an expected 157% growth in the number of users in the next five years, growing from 360 million in 2022 to 900 million by 2027. At a time when rising inflation and living costs are putting pressure on consumer budgets, and with merchants wanting to offer affordable and ethical finance methods, DivideBuy’s responsible lending-based POS finance solution is set to become even more commonplace across a growing range of merchant sectors. As an easy and convenient payment option in comparison to credit cards that charge interest and higher fees, POS finance is also a hit with the millennial generation.

Teresa Byrne, Chief Commercial Officer at DivideBuy, commented: “DivideBuy is – by its nature – a disruptive, innovative company and our recent growth is a testament to the number of merchants who have realised the value of our solution. DivideBuy is leading the charge as a dynamic credit provider in the eCommerce space, and so it is critical that the technology we offer our customers upgrades in line with this growth. Our partnership with Salesforce will enable DivideBuy to break onboarding records, with merchants up and running in times never seen before in the industry.

“Previously, DivideBuy relied on its own CRM, so I am excited to see how Salesforce’s agile platform will allow us to execute innovation at pace and add significant value to our partnership interface by driving insights and communications. Salesforce’s end-to-end solution will support DivideBuy’s full offering, ensure real-time feedback for merchants thanks to its machine learning capabilities, and give predictability on performance to help merchants to plan ahead for important days in the retail calendar such as Black Friday. It will also mean that DivideBuy will be able to onboard new merchants at a much faster rate.”

Having announced a milestone £300m funding agreement with global investment management firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP in 2021, DivideBuy has chosen Salesforce’s integrated CRM solution to help execute its ambitious plans as it continues to scale its business.

Currently working with more than 500 merchants, DivideBuy’s new partnership will enable it to continue to respond to the increased demand it has experienced across all verticals following a broadening of its consumer base, a major shift in consumer attitudes towards interest-free credit and its fast-growing roster of major merchant partners.

This news is the latest in a series of fintech-focused partnerships for Salesforce, which is aiming to build its support of the merchant sector through a combination of direct outreach, omnichannel strategies and retail industry insights.

Ryan Joyce, Head of FinTech for UK&I at Salesforce, commented: “Salesforce’s mission is to bring companies and customers together through our integrated CRM platform that gives all operations — including marketing, sales, commerce, and service — a single, shared view of every customer. We’re delighted to be working with such a customer-focused company in DivideBuy to provide its merchant customers with smoother journeys and improved experiences, and to help the growing POS finance market and the wider fintech sector.”

DivideBuy’s POS finance eCommerce credit plugin integrates with shopping cart functionalities such as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce and Craft Commerce to offer interest-free credit through merchant partners. DivideBuy offers a fast 60-second application process and an immediate decision, which means that customers can spread the cost of their purchases with no hidden charges. At a time when record rises in inflation and living costs are putting pressure on household budgets, interest-free credit solutions like those from DivideBuy can help customers make aspirational, hassle-free purchases this golden quarter by spreading the cost over several months – and with no late payment fees.