The "Buy Now Pay Later" system is winning over consumers, regardless of their profile. Oney, a major European actor in the sector, is optimising the payment process through an omnichannel customer relationship. Presentation with Corinne Hochart, Director of Strategy and Customer Engagement.
What is your role in the market?
Oney is a bank with two shareholders: BPCE and ELO (Auchan's holding company). Our purpose is to be a stakeholder in the retail transformation and to give everyone the power to consume better and to control their budget through payment, financing and insurance solutions. We have a dual DNA of retailer and banker. We are present in all areas of consumption: high tech, housing, travel, sport, etc. Oney is the leader in France with more than 30% of PDM on split payments, but also in Portugal, Romania, Italy and n°2 in Spain.
What about split payments?
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is gaining momentum in both goods and services. It is now perceived not as credit but as a tool to make payment easier. And this is true for all types of customers, whatever their age. The uses are very diverse. We treat the BNPL with the same responsibility as a credit, even if an average duration of 3 months exposes much less risk of over-indebtedness. The average amount is €350. It is a strong support to the economy, to reasoned consumption. We can see that payment in instalments is becoming a criterion of choice for customers. As a result, we are encouraging all small retailers to include the BNPL in their service offering. This payment method has always been present in e-commerce, but we are seeing it develop in physical outlets. Oney offers this service in PSA garages, for example.
What are the practical changes?
According to the 1st European Barometer of Better Consumption, which we conducted with Harris Interactive in March 2022, 40% of consumers paid in several instalments by bank card last year and 51% of them want to use it even more in 2022. A total of 85% of consumers expect to use this method of payment in 2022, mainly in five sectors: high tech and household appliances (39%), furniture and decoration (31%), travel and tourism (28%), health (25%) and DIY (14%). While the majority of consumers use split payments for exceptional purchases or to finance projects, 80% use them several times a year (+4% vs. 2021). This proves that payment facilities are now part of consumer habits.
What are the main challenges surrounding online payment?
The main objective is to make the operation simple for the customer and the merchant. We seek to optimise the conversion rate of merchants and to control the risks of non-payment and fraud. Because in this case, it is Oney that is responsible. We work daily to optimise the customer journey and the acceptance rate using data and our decision-making systems to take into account the granularity of each type of customer. In the face of fraud, our subsidiary, Oney Trust, cross-checks the customer's digital identity (in open data) to verify that the Internet user is not a fraudster. Our know-how enables us, thanks to scoring techniques, to have predictive systems and we enrich the data collected.
What is the role of customer relations in the payment process?
We focus on simplicity of the process. Customer satisfaction is a key element. Moreover, we measure the NPS throughout the chain, including in the event of non-payment. We allow the customer to do everything themselves if they wish or to get help. We can't impose full digital on all our customers. So, digital remains at the service of people who remain at the service of others. Our customer relations department is at his disposal, in after-sales service, collection, etc. The customer chooses how to manage his expenses.
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