Tekmetric and Affirm Enable Auto Repair Payments in Installments

Tekmetric has partnered with Affirm to enable auto repair shops to offer their customers the ability to pay over time.

With this partnership, Affirm’s payment network can be accessed through Tekmetric’s automotive repair shop management solution, the companies said in a Tuesday (Aug. 13) press release.

Auto repair shops that use Tekmetric’s platform can add Affirm as a payment option with a few clicks, according to the release.

Then, the repair shops’ customers can select Affirm at checkout and, when approved, split the cost of their purchase into monthly or biweekly payments and see the total cost of their purchase, per the release.

“Our partnership with Affirm allows our partner shops to improve customer satisfaction by offering flexible payment plans, and to drive higher repair order values and loyalty through versatile payment choices,” Sunil Patel, founder and CEO of Tekmetric, said in the release.

Tekmetric joins more than 292,000 retail partners that offer Affirm at checkout, according to the release.

“Consumers increasingly expect payment flexibility at checkout, with a recent Affirm survey revealing that more than half of respondents have used or would use ‘buy now, pay later’ options,” Pat Suh, senior vice president of revenue at Affirm, said in the release. “By partnering with Tekmetric, we can help the auto repair shops leveraging their platform meet this consumer demand and accelerate revenue growth.”

Digital tools and platforms are making hefty auto repair bills, particularly unplanned ones, more manageable for drivers, PYMNTS reported in February.

Millennials are especially likely to use BNPL for vehicle maintenance, according to “The Credit Accessibility Series: BNPL’s Wide-Ranging Impact on Consumers and Merchants,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Sezzle collaboration.

The report found that 5.8% of millennials said they purchased vehicle maintenance in their last BNPL transaction, compared to 3.9% of Gen Z consumers, 3.2% of Gen X consumers and 1.7% of baby boomers and seniors.

In January, Bumper, a London-based FinTech that lets customers fund car repairs in installments, raised $48 million and said it would use the funding to expand throughout Europe, targeting car dealers and repair shops in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland.