There may be few businesses more excited about the prospect of a post-COVID era than those in the travel industry – which makes the news of a collaboration between U.K.-based Fly Now Pay Later and BaaS provider Cross River Bank all the more musical to homebound ears. The partnership will enable Fly Now Pay Later to leverage Cross River Bank’s FDIC license to offer its travel financing solution in the United States. The company’s financing solution, available at checkout as well as via the Fly Now Pay Later’s Anywhere app, will enable U.S. travelers to book trips and spread the cost of travel over time.
“The recovery of travel is likely to be gradual, but when it happens, we hope that by giving people the freedom to book a trip and pay at a pace that works for them, will help spur reservations,” Fly Now Pay Later CEO Jasper Dykes said in May during the company’s recent funding announcement. “There are tens of thousands of people who have families around the world who need a frictionless way to finance their flights. By removing financial boundaries, we hope to open the post-COVID-19 world for travelers and reconnect people with their friends and families around the globe.”
For Cross River Bank, the partnership announcement with Fly Now Pay Later comes only a few weeks after the company completed its acquisition of data and analytics firm PeerIQ. In addition to supporting Cross River’s mission to provide greater access to financial services and enable greater financial inclusion, the acquisition will enable Cross River to expand its offerings to include end-to-end SaaS solutions, advanced portfolio analytics, as well as further data aggregation capability and risk management tools. In June, Cross River Bank also unveiled Cross River Digital Ventures, a venture capital division that will invest in companies innovating in lending, payments, investing, and fintech that offer “strategic value” to both Cross River and the technology industry more broadly.
“By providing strategic support to early-stage companies we can build on the Cross River momentum to fuel and strengthen the next wave of fintech innovation,” Cross River Head of Corporate Development Hillel Olivestone said. “These are promising startups that align with Cross River’s mission and values, and we look forward to working with them to grow and expand the fintech ecosystem.”
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