Upgrade, a financial technology company that offers credit, mobile banking and payment products to mainstream consumers, has acquired Uplift, a provider of Buy Now Pay Later payment and credit products to travelers, for $100 million in cash and stock. Uplift has seen growth over the past few years, now serving 3.3 million customers in partnership with more than 300 airlines, cruise lines and hotel chains in the United States and Canada.
“We are thrilled to welcome Uplift team members, partners and customers to Upgrade,” said Renaud Laplanche, co-founder and CEO at Upgrade. “The Uplift team has established the company as the leading BNPL provider in the travel industry, and we look forward to combining forces to make travel more accessible and affordable for millions of consumers, and over time implement similar solutions in adjacent parts of our customers’ lives.”
Uplift offers a full range of BNPL products, including zero-percent financing offers that help consumers align the payment of their travel expenses with their own cash flows at no cost to them. Uplift performs credit bureau reporting, allowing users to keep up their good credit score as they make monthly payments.
“We believe this combination will accelerate Uplift’s ability to help consumers pay for their trips through simple and affordable monthly installments,” Tom Botts, chief commercial officer at Uplift, said in a statement. “As part of Upgrade, more resources will be available to better serve our partners and customers to continue to develop simple, surprise-free, and straightforward payment plans to ensure people can pay for the things that matter most, the ones that elevate their lives.”
Travel financing fits within Upgrade’s strategy of making credit available at the point of sale to finance meaningful expenses such as buying a car or making home improvements, in addition to making credit available directly to consumers through cards and loans.