Bumper Raises $48 Million to Expand BNPL for Car Repair

Bumper, a FinTech that lets customers fund car repairs in installments, raised $48 million.

The London-based company announced the Series B round in a Thursday (Jan. 4) press release, saying it would use the funding to expand throughout Europe, targeting car dealers and repair shops in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland.

“There has never been a more important time for a business like Bumper, with consumers across Europe feeling the pinch amidst high inflation, rising bills and escalating rent or mortgage costs,” Bumper founder and CEO James Jackson said in the release. “The need for a flexible way to pay for car repairs is vitally important for drivers, and dealers want to ensure they can provide customers every reason to book them in there and then.”

Bumper lets drivers divide their repair bills into interest-free payments to let them keep their cars on the road while making sure dealerships and garages still get paid, according to the release. The company’s offering is available through 5,000 dealers, which have provided flexible payments for more than 250,000 repairs in the last year.

Offering digital payment methods can help garages and dealerships attract customers, per the release, an idea that PYMNTS has explored when it comes to installment payment options such as buy now, pay later (BNPL).

BNPL has gone mainstream to the point that if businesses don’t provide it, they might lose out on sales at checkout. This is particularly important as inflation can determine whether consumers choose to spend money.

“It’s never been more important for people to be able to hang onto their cash, as more consumers are looking to use BNPL to pay for the necessities of life … all the way around to fun things like travel and entertainment,” i2c President Jacqueline White said in an interview with PYMNTS posted Tuesday (Jan. 2).

Meanwhile, PYMNTS Intelligence found that 68% of those who adopt installment plans believe that businesses are highly likely to sell more expensive products or services if they offer card installment plans to customers before checkout.

“BNPL feels like a ‘microdose’ of credit,” White told PYMNTS.

It’s the type of credit that feels easy to manage as repayment expectations are clear, short and transparent, she said, with consumers feeling more in charge than they would with other types of credit.