LifePay Launched Internet Acquiring And Lending Services

LifePay has launched 2 new products in its line: online acquiring and SME-lending for working capital (in a month they are launching POS-lending – when entrepreneurs sell their goods and services on credit – this model is used by FinanceIt)

mPOS company LifePay is adding new features: it has launched lending and Internet acquiring services in test mode, according to the representatives of  Life.SREDA VC.

LifePay launched the Internet acquiring in partnership with Futubank, which provided and adopted its technical solution. It enables LifePay customers to integrate e-payments in their websites.

At the first stage loans will be available only for legal entities – mobile acquiring customers of LifePay. The loan amount ranges from 50,000 rubles to the monthly turnover of the company through LifePay.

LifePay actually repeats the scheme of the American mPOS service Square, which also offers loans to its customers. LifePay and Square both base lending decisions on the on the transaction data through the service.

Scoring is provided to LifePay by Scorista, another Life.SREDA’s portfolio company. The service was initially designed to define the solvency of private individuals but the technology was adopted for LifePay needs.

The combination of Internet acquiring and mPOS is a common practice and Yandex.Money introduced this service over a year ago. According to Evgenia Arnautova, representative of Yandex.Money:

“Lending to acquiring customers is also a common banking practice. But I hardly expect a great demand for a set of three services because of the high competitiveness on credit market. The bank gets the most of the benefits in this scheme by gaining access to LifePay’s customer base”.

Small and medium business doesn’t face an overabundance of service from credit institutions (with the obvious shortage of SME loans), according to Aleksey Tuknow, Investment Director at Maxfield Capital.

“Therefore complex, but easy-to-use products can be demanded in the market. I believe a comprehensive approach may resonate, as most entrepreneurs are far from technical specifics of backend processes, such as accounting, IT, payments, and banking. The main issue is the business model sustainability: the number of customers, average check, margins, conditions and the sensitivity of this business model”.