We are super excited to announce that Sprint has led YouPay’s initial $4m seed round just 5 months after leading YouPay’s pre-seed round. YouPay is a Logan based, fintech payments company that separates the payer from the recipient at the shopping checkout. YouPay aims to increase ecommerce conversion rates by providing an alternative payment mechanism to enable purchases by 3rd parties.
YouPay was developed by Matt Holme to bring to life a powerful idea that stemmed from years of building thousands of ecommerce websites: there needs to be a debt-free and secure way to share the shopping cart with an external payer. In certain categories of shoppers (think children), they are commonly not the payer. Goodbye handing over card details…
“You Order, They Pay”
Traditional card payment mechanisms, such as Mastercard, Visa and Paypal were the first iteration of online payment methods. They enabled shoppers to live within their means and pay online with their own sources of money. Then followed Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), providing shoppers the ability to make purchases when they may not have had the required money on hand. These payment solutions are now ingrained in the way we transact online and will remain, but what’s next?
MEET: SHARED PAYMENTS
“You Order, They Pay”
Want to see YouPay in action? Watch a quick demo here
YouPay is forging a new payments segment that offers shoppers an alternative payment method when they do not have the means to make purchases themselves or their support network has offered to pay. YouPay aims to address the payment inefficiencies in the following four market segments:
- PARENTS can review and pay for their children. YouPay not only improves transparency for parents or caretakers but also educates children and encourages improved spending habits through the “You Pay Me Back” feature. Teenagers are a material component of the retail market that legally cannot be accessed by BNPL providers, and YouPay enables merchants a responsible and unique path to access this market.
- PARTNERS will commonly pay for items for their partner. Presently, the most common method is the exchange of physical cards or messaging card details. YouPay removes the security risk and enables the recipient to pick out exactly what they want the most, define all the sizes, colours, options themselves, while still getting all of the loyalty points.
- PROFESSIONALS – many purchases in a business setting (e.g. furniture, coffee, printing) are incidental purchases that are paid for by the business. YouPay enables employees, no matter their location across the globe, to share the payment details with the responsible person. In some instances, this removes the need for corporate credit cards and operational inefficiencies with reimbursement processes.
- PURPOSE – not-for-profit organisations, such as charities, can create YouPay links for items needed and then be paid for by individuals seeking to give financial support. This enables more targeted and meaningful support for charitable organisations.
YouPay empowers these groups by providing a secure and simple way to make payment, whilst not subjecting them to debt or payback schemes. These segments have historically been underserved by traditional payment mechanisms, and YouPay offers a means to reach these demographics directly.
This Is Why We Love YouPay
Exceptional founders who care about financial wellness
Matt and Dan are the perfect founder duo, sales orientated with a deep product understanding. They have built a successful website development company, MyWork, from the ground up to produce over 7000 websites. Together, they understand the needs of ecommerce merchants but also what needs to occur to ensure seamless integration. At their core, the financial wellness of the next generation drives YouPay and we love this. They are exceptional founders in every sense, and we believe they are best placed to solve the problem.
Solving the abandoned cart
Abandoned carts represent USD$39 trillion in lost revenue for ecommerce businesses. Every year, customers reconsider their purchases at the checkout due to a lack of funding. YouPay provides a material way for merchants to reach these ‘abandoned’ customers and offer them a simple, debt-free alternative to make their purchase. YouPay has shown a 6% conversion rate on abandoned carts with early adopters, and this represents a huge market that is underserviced.
Sustainable and debt-free offering
Credit-based payment offerings, such as BNPL, have great advantages, however, the danger is that consumers (typically younger generations) often don’t have the tools, knowledge or support to make the right call about the financial implications. YouPay’s value proposition is that before an individual goes into debt with an institution, be it BNPL or a credit card, YouPay enables them to turn to their support network of family and friends for assistance and live within their means.
Unique yet proven business model
The checkout has been stuck in a cluttered ‘single player mode’ for the past 20 years. YouPay is the missing ‘second controller’ to enable multiplayer shopping. The advantage of multiplayer shopping is the ability to access two unique customer profiles through one transaction (shopper and payer). Whilst the business model, a per transaction merchant fee, is a proven and scalable business model.
“YouPay will change the game. They are solving one of the biggest problems in ecommerce, the abandoned cart. They have the potential to rival the growth of BNPL, without ever providing credit or charging late fees.”
Llew Jury, Managing Partner
Why Now?
Ecommerce has been exponentially growing over the past few years and has been further supercharged by the digital adoption from COVID-19. Australian online goods spend finished 57% higher YoY against 2019. This impressive growth translated to online sales collecting a record 16.3% of total Australian retail spend.
Whilst alternative payment methods, such as BNPL provider Afterpay have been exploding in popularity as consumers seek alternative payment options. YouPay sits at the cross-section of these forces and is perfectly positioned to establish itself as a staple within the ecommerce checkout.
Sprinting To The Checkout
Would you or a friend love to use YouPay? Recommend it to your favourite online stores or if you are an ecommerce store, sign up here.
Interested in being a part of the team that’s introducing the next payment sector of “Shared Payments” to retailers and shoppers across the globe? Check out YouPay’s careers page here.
