Is Zip legit?
You likely arrived on this article and are interested to know whether you should use Zip. You saw the option to use Zip while checking out for an online purchase. Read below to find out if Zip is legit or a scam.
Is Zip Legit?
Yes. Zip is a legit Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service. Zip allows you to break-up payments of purchases of items and products into 4 easy installments over 6 weeks. .
Zip can be used anywhere that Visa cards are accepted. The reason that Zip is able to offer this is that they partner with credit card payments giant Stripe. Using the Zip app the company claims you can use the BNPL service almost any retail store that partner with Zip.
(Fair warning, we have heard of varying degrees of success trying to use the Zip app in-store. Your mileage may vary.)
Still 75% of Zip’s business comes from it’s online sales. So in-person retail is still not that big for Zip and the BNPL market.
Zip differentiates itself as it does not charge any interest on any loans. However, Zip does charge late fees if you miss payments. So be aware of this before you start using Zip.
Zip was founded by Peter Gray and Larry Diamond back in 2013 in Sydney, Australia.
QuadPay?
To some people Zip might be know as QuadPay.
Zip is an Australian Buy Now Pay later company that acquired American based QuadPay back in 2020. The deal closed in 2021.
The move was done to compete with homegrown Australian rival Afterpay. In addition to BNPL behemoths Klarna and Affirm.
It was quite a big acquisition in the BNPL and financial industry as Zip bought QuadPay for $400 million. The combination of Zip and QuadPay valued the company at around 1 billion dollars, making it a startup unicorn.
QuadPay had the in-store technology for using BNPL in-stores that Zip was after. It was also necessary to gain a foothold in the US market, which is much larger and more profitable. Zip only had the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and some European countries at the time.