ShopBack the latest player to sound retreat from ‘buy now, pay later’

LOYALTY platform ShopBack has announced that it will be discontinuing its “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) service, PayLater.

In an e-mail to Singapore customers, the company said it will discontinue the BNPL service from Mar 22. This will apply to both online and physical transactions.

The PayLater service was introduced after ShopBack acquired BNPL player Hoolah in November 2021. The offering was rolled out in July 2022 to Singapore and Malaysia.

When contacted by The Business Times, ShopBack said that it is also discontinuing the PayLater service in Malaysia on Mar 22. The shuttering of PayLater is part of a periodic review of its business units.

“Our decision to discontinue the PayLater feature in Singapore and Malaysia is driven by our strategic focus on sustainable business models with strong potential for growth,” said the company.

A number of players in the BNPL space have shuttered over the past year, with Pace the most recent to do so. The BNPL player filed for voluntary winding up last August.