What is Limepay and how does it work?

Limepay (or April) allows retailers to effectively operate their own BNPL platform by providing them with a white-label design that the brand can own. Merchant websites can integrate April (or Limepay) into their payment framework through plugins provided by the company – offering it as a payment alternative within their ecosystem at checkout. 

As a customer, you don’t need to sign up for a Limepay account to use the service. Instead, you sign up directly with your favourite retailer, but you’ll need to meet the minimum eligibility criteria for using the service. 

Limepay is only available for customers who are 18 years or older. You also need a valid email address and phone number, and a credit or debit card that Limepay will use to collect the payments.

Once you reach checkout, you’ll see two options – to pay for your purchase upfront (pay in full) or pay in instalments (pay in four). If you choose the latter, you’ll make the first instalment on the date of purchase, and the remaining three instalments will be due every 15 days from the day of the purchase unless you opt to pay off the balance earlier. The next step is entering your credit or debit card details that you will use to make your payments. 

It’s worth noting that the option to pay your purchase in instalments is subject to Limepay’s approval, based on various background and credit checks run by the company. In case they find you unsuitable for credit, you may have to opt to pay in full or use another payment method available to you.

Limepay also allows retailers to customise their own payment plans. For instance, a clothing retailer may allow customers to pay off their purchase in four instalments, but a brand selling furniture may allow you to split your payments into six or eight instalments.

Limepay’s point of difference from other BNPL services is its merchant-first approach. The company enables partner merchants to retain their branding at every touchpoint, including checkout and payment reminders. It also aims to improve customer experience by avoiding third-party redirects that sometimes subject customers to advertisements. Limepay’s data management system also ensures that return customers are recognised, making future checkouts more streamlined.

Additionally, the company also provides customer data to its partner merchants to help them build stronger relationships with their clients.

According to Limepay’s website, it will run identity and background checks on you before approving your payment plan. This may also include credit checks, depending on the amount of money you wish to borrow or whenever the company considers it necessary to assess your suitability for credit. Records of such enquiries and their result may appear on your credit file. If your application is rejected, it may affect your future credit eligibility to some extent.

When you apply for a home loan or other types of credit such as personal loans, the lender checks your credit report to assess your creditworthiness as a borrower. Rejected credit applications may appear as red flags. Additionally, having multiple credit enquiries on your file too close to each other can make you appear credit hungry, which is not something lenders want to see. This may happen when you apply for multiple credit cards or open several BNPL accounts at once. 

Buying now and paying later can carry risks, similar to using credit cards, unless you use BNPL responsibly. Services like Limepay can help you budget for your purchases by breaking them down into interest-free instalments. But if you use these services to buy products you can’t afford, or if you are putting day-to-day expenses on BNPL, you could risk owing more money than you can comfortably afford to repay. Defaulting on repayments may be recorded in your credit history, which could affect your credit score and worsen your financial situation.

You may want to budget for your BNPL instalments in advance so you can pay them off in time without incurring late fees, which can quickly add up. And if you find it challenging to stick to a budget or tend to shop impulsively, you could consider sticking to your savings or even using cash to pay for your shopping.