Even established payment processors are looking beyond the world of traditional finance as part of their future business model. WorldPay, one of the leading European payment processors in existence today, has entered the alternative finance market by partnering with cash advance provider Liberis.
WorldPay Ventures Into Alternative Finance World
As part of the agreement with Liberis, WorldPay can offer Britain’s small[er] businesses a new payment option. This initiative will be called Worldpay Business Finance, and offers unsecured cash advance based on future credit and debit card sales of the small[er] businesses in question.
As a customer, your payment will be processed based on a pre-agreed percentage of the business’ card transactions. Diversifying the plethora of available payment methods is a big step for WorldPay, and could be a sign of things to come. After all, the company only went live on the London Stock Exchange last month.
The choice in the form of Liberis is quite an interesting one, albeit the company is a specialist in the field of cash advance loans. WorldPay is showing a clear desire not just to focus on payment processing, but also establish their presence in the loans market. Whether or not this will be the right move, remains to be seen.
One thing to take into account is Liberis’ solid track record since 2007. By advancing over £100m to small businesses who were unable to get any financial support from banks, Liberis has become one of the major players in the UK loans market. Furthermore, small businesses in the UK will keep facing some uphill battles in the foreseeable future.
There is no better time than now for WorldPay to diversify their offerings, and venturing into a market that will see a fair share of success in the years to come seems to be the right move. According to research by the UK Department of Business, 50% of first-time loan applications by small business owners is rejected. Such a staggering amount opens up a lot of opportunities for both WorldPay and Liberis.
WorldPay UK Managing Director Dave Hobday stated:
“We work with around 280,000 small businesses in the UK and they make up a large proportion of our customers, so we want to help them flourish. By letting companies access cash relating to their future earnings, we are giving them the chance to grow in line with their ambition and potential.”
Bitcoin Is An Alternative Payment Gaining Popularity
There are other alternative payments WorldPay could- or perhaps should – start looking into sooner or later. Bitcoin acts as a global digital currency, which can be used by anyone in the world, regardless of their access to traditional financial solutions. Plus, Bitcoin has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent months.
It is only a matter of time until Bitcoin becomes a mainstream form of payment, and players such as WorldPay have an excellent chance to get involved at the most opportune time. Whether or not that time is now, is difficult to judge. But with the recent popularity increase, a switch to mainstream adoption could happen any day now.
What are your thoughts on the partnership between WorldPay and Liberis? What will this mean for the future of Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: WorldPay Blog
Images courtesy of WorldPay, Liberis, Shutterstock
