Buy Now Pay Later: Nexi and Compass become strategic partners

Nexi – the European PayTech – and Compass – the consumer credit company part of Mediobanca Group – announce a strategic partnership in the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) business.

Thanks to the agreement, Compass' BNPL digital solution PagoLight will be available on Nexi SmartPOS, thus allowing Nexi’s partner banks to provide retailers with an innovative solution for deferred payment, directly integrated into the payment terminal, with no need for an ad hoc device. To date, several banks have joined the initiative and more are about to join in the coming weeks.

The partnership between the two innovation-driven companies allows Nexi to provide its partner banks with a product that will enable them to take full advantage of the business opportunities offered by Buy Now Pay Later, a continuously growing payment service that, according to Politecnico di Milano's forecasts, will reach an annual transaction volume of around 14.5 billion euros in 2025.

"The agreement we signed with Compass is in harmony with our European Paytech positioning, which is focused on bringing our partners and merchants innovative solutions for business development," says Filippo Signoretti, Merchant Solutions Director of Nexi Italy. "In particular, this partnership allows us to provide merchants with a Buy Now Pay Later service which can be used by their customers in physical shops through Nexi SmartPOS in a simple, immediate and secure way, thus increasing sales opportunities.”

The agreement represents an extraordinary opportunity for Compass to significantly expand the distribution of PagoLight in the physical shop channel. In fact, PagoLight is designed to enable merchants to increase both sales and average receipt, relieving them of the credit risk, which is entirely carried by Compass.

Launched in 2021, PagoLight is now active in Italy in more than 13,000 shops, a network that continues to grow, with approximately 1,000 new activations per month.

"Thanks to this strategic agreement we are strengthening our presence in the Buy Now Pay Later market, particularly in the physical channel where, through Nexi, we will be able to bring our innovative deferment solutions to merchants and final customers throughout Italy," comments Francesco Caso, General Manager of Compass. “The partnership with Nexi represents an important milestone for Compass that is consistent with the objectives of the Mediobanca Group's Strategic Plan to 2026 One Brand - One Culture, which foresees in the development of PagoLight an important driver for the growth of the Consumer Finance division, leveraging innovation and risk assessment capabilities, which have always been distinctive factors for Compass" concludes Francesco Caso.

Milan, November 16th, 2023