The relationship is seen as a win-win position for all players, including car owners, who can ensure their vehicles are properly serviced on time and avoid potential problems including safety issues and breakdowns.
Openpay said that its partnership with Pentana is exclusive and gives it access to Pentana’s network of more than 1900 national dealerships that service about 4.2 million vehicles a year.
Prior to the announcement, Openpay had direct agreements with about 1000 dealers and claimed more than 20,000 plans a year and more than $16 million per year in plan value.
By working with Pentana, Openpay can offer flexible repayments to motorists needing to service their vehicles and gives workshops affiliated with Pentana a priority.
Openpay said a service will cost motorists anywhere from $185 to $2225, depending on the make and model of their car. Workshops recommend a vehicle should be professionally serviced every six months or 10,000km.
Openpay CEO Michael Eidel said motorists can be caught in need of servicing or parts that they did not plan for in their cashflows.
“For that reason, we have seen growing interest in our automotive ‘buy now, pay later’ plans,” he said.
“People are using Openpay to solve their immediate needs, such as a car service or a set of new tyres, then paying it off over a timeframe that suits their budget.”
Under the agreement, Openpay and Pentana Solutions will work together to offer Openpay to more than 1900 dealerships not currently accessing ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) services.
Pentana Solutions CEO Steve Kloss said the agreement with Openpay was done as a result of a tender process.
“Openpay offers a flexible product delivering higher-value plans at attractive terms for our dealers and for dealer customers who are asking for BNPL solutions,” he said.
Openpay Group Ltd is a listed Australian public company that has payment plans for customers for purchases up to $20,000 and terms from two months to 24 months.
In its automotive group, it has members including LSH Auto and Mercedes-Benz, JAX Tyres & Auto and UltraTune. The company lists 1894 merchants in Australia and New Zealand as of December 31, 2019, which is being boosted through entry into the UK market in June last year.
It reported a revenue of $8.3 million in the first half of the 2019-20 financial year.
Pentana Solutions is an information technology company specialising in the development and delivery of software solutions and IT services for the retail automotive and associated industries.
It supplies these services to 60 per cent of new-car franchised dealers. Its main product is eraPower, Pentana’s fully integrated dealer management system (DMS).
By Neil Dowling
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