Installment payment options and other payment schemes have been used by offline retailers for years and with the rising trend of e-commerce, financial institutions are slowly introducing this option to the market digitally. Different 3rd party institutions are already integrated with famous marketplaces and online stores such as TendoPay and BillEase but what's more surprising is that the marketplaces themselves are the ones integrating these payment options in their own system!
For this post, I will be highlighting about Shopee PayLater in the Philippines.
As emphasized in the product name, SPayLater is Shopee's own Buy Now, Pay Later offering in their app. You don't need to sign up and wait for an approved credit limit from a 3rd party service -- you can do it all within the Shopee app.
The service is not yet available for the general public as they're slowly rolling this feature to select users but here's what you can expect:
1. You'll need to activate SPayLater and be approved of a limit first.
You can check the full instructions here on how to activate SPayLater from your profile page and the requirements needed for the approval.
In my case, I provided them with my UMID ID during the application. Other IDs accepted are Passport and Driver's License.
Tip: Make sure that the ID fits in the box included for capturing and the details are properly seen when you take a photo.
Next step is filling out a short application form. One thing that I quickly noticed is that they didn't ask for my salary, only the name of the company I'm currently employed in -- meaning, they may have other means to benchmark an applicant's approval and approved credit limit whether be it based on someone's Shopee order history or any other factor.
The third step is a face recognition where you will just follow the instructions seen on the screen.
And that's it -- within 5 minutes, my SPayLater application was submitted.
As per the FAQs page and the prompt window, the application will be reviewed within 24 hours. However, I did my application on a Saturday and got my approval on a Monday. The screen should be updated to 24 business hours.
Tip: Apply on a weekday if you want a faster response since their 24 hour window to review is applicable only on weekdays.
Also, just a reminder, approval of the SPayLater as well as how much your credit limit will be is solely based on the discretion of Shopee.
2. Take note of the due date and the transaction cut-off date.
The transaction cut-off date for SPayLater purchases is every 24th month of the current month -- all your transactions from the 25th of the previous month up to the 24th of the current month will be included in your next due date, which is the 5th of the next month.
To maximize payments, I schedule my purchases after the cut-off of the current month so it will be included in the cut-off for the next month and moving my due date a month later.
Example:
A. I purchased an order worth ₱2,000 on January 23. It will be included in the January 24 cut-off and have to be paid on February 5.
B. Whereas, if I purchased an order worth ₱2,000 on January 25, it will be included in the February 24 cut-off and the due date is on March 5.
Tip: You can schedule your purchases strategically by ordering after the current cut-off date so the due date will be moved on the next month.
Also, one of the key difference of SPayLater is that you can do simultaneous transactions in one cut-off as long as you still have available limit left and you can have multiple orders from multiple merchants in one check-out with SPayLater.
3. And lastly, PAY THE BALANCE.
You have to take into consideration that the SPayLater is essentially a debt to Shopee for a purchase that you made and as a responsible borrower, you have to PAY YOUR BALANCES dutifully. Trust me, it's not worth it on running from your financial obligations especially because it might backfire on you when you need it the most.
The balance or due amount is reflected on the SPayLater page so you can take note of the amount and pay for it before the due date. I highly advise that you pay early especially when you're paying thru 3rd-party services such as Bayad Center, etc. and to always keep the receipt or proof of payment. That way, you're sure your covered just in case you encounter any problem with the payment being reflected on your account.
For a more detailed list of payment options for your SPayLater balance, you can check it here.
Overview of SPayLater
Tips for SPayLater:
- Check first if the merchant you're ordering from accepts SPayLater.
- ALWAYS PAY THE DUE AMOUNT ON TIME -- can't stress this enough.
- Order after the current cut-off date so your due date will be moved a month after.
- You can order from different shops and checkout one-time using the SPayLater.
Thanks for this article!
ReplyDeleteps. Is there some products that there is no interest? like insurance?
Thank you for the review.
ReplyDelete