Credit card and banking company Upgrade announced Thursday that it purchased Uplift, a provider of buy now pay later (BNPL) payment products for travelers, for $100 million in cash and stock.
Uplift offers a range of BNPL services, including installment loans for vacation packages. The company claims to serve 3.3 million consumers in partnership with more than 300 of the largest airlines, cruise lines and hotel chains across the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, Upgrade provides a range of affordable credit, mobile banking and payment products, operating mainly in areas like home improvement, debt consolidation and major purchase loans.
This acquisition of Uplift expands Upgrade’s offerings into the travel industry, which will in turn help millions of consumers pay for their trips in affordable monthly installments. It will also allow Upgrade to implement Uplift’s BNPL solutions in “adjacent parts” of consumers’ lives over time, Upgrade co-founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche said in a statement.
