The appointment reflects Bumper’s focus on evolving its platform, bringing further innovation to the automotive sector and delivering tech-led convenience to dealers and their customers.

Fran joins from Experian where she served as Domain Leader and Senior Product Manager. She was also formerly a Senior Product Manager at Lebara, where she was in charge of the business’ ecommerce platform and, prior to which she was Product Manager at Wonga where she co-led the rollout in Spain. 

Her career in product management began after graduating with an MBA from the London Business School in 2011.

Fran sits on Bumper’s six-strong executive team and is currently managing the international launch of the platform into continental Europe, starting with Germany, followed by Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal.

She is also leading the development of a new white label customer app which will be offered by dealer groups to help improve aftersales retention. 

“I was attracted to Bumper because it’s a fintech with ambitious growth plans. The business is still relatively small, which makes it agile, but it has good funding which is allowing it to scale quickly,” she said.

“It was also an exciting opportunity to work with a tech leader and help further develop a platform which resonates with dealers and their customers. A major part of my job is listening to dealerships and understanding their requirements and working out how they can make better use of the Bumper platform, especially as we move into Europe where each market has different local nuances.”

Bumper has appointed Francisca Gutierrez Marticorena to the new position of Chief Product Officer

Bumper CPO Francisca Gutierrez has become the latest business leader to join the Automotive 30% Club. 

Gutierrez said gender balance is central to the expanding business’ accelerated recruitment drive as it scales up its digital aftersales payment platform in the UK and across Europe. 

The Automotive 30% Club is a voluntary group comprised of managing directors and CEOs founded to achieve a better gender balance across the automotive industry, with the aim of filling at least 30% of key leadership positions in its members’ organisations with women by 2030. 

Gutierrez said: “I’m really excited and honoured to be joining the Automotive 30% Club and look forward to working with the team and fellow members to actively promote gender balance by recruiting and retaining the best possible talent across the automotive sector. 

“As a fast-growing fintech business, Bumper is now hiring a lot of people at scale, which brings a number of challenges. Being a member of the Automotive 30% Club will help us build a framework and structure to ensure our hiring process is always as inclusive and diverse as possible. 

"This is not only a moral and ethical responsibility but also adds commercial value, as we believe a diverse management team makes better strategic decisions.” 

Julia Muir, the founder of the Automotive 30% Club, said: "It's great to welcome Francisca Gutierrez to the Automotive 30% Club. I'm very pleased that Francisca is putting a gender-balance and inclusion strategy at the centre of Bumper's growth plans and it is evident that she recognises the important role played by gender-balanced diverse teams in achieving business success. I shall look forward to bringing her into our network where we all share ideas and solutions to achieve diversity and inclusion goals" 

Bumper CPO Francisca Gutierrez becomes latest member to join Automotive 30% Club 

Well done to the team at Luton for an outstanding month using Bumper to help their customers. 

Since joining Bumper in July 2021 the team have introduced our PayLater product as key part of their aftersales process. The team use Bumper

’s integration with CitNOW to offer a fast, digital experience and give customers more control over their finances. 

 ‘Our customers really value the option to spread payments, any unplanned work is far easier to budget for, and the process couldn’t be easier. The system is by far the easiest we have used. Support is always available on the rare occurrence it’s needed. Just the right amount of contact from Alex inspires confidence in the team.’ Aftersales Manager, John Fincher Specialist Cars, 

Well done to Graham, Rebecca, Nikki, Tracy, Jodie, Robert, and the rest of the team! 

Bumper’s Dealership of the Month for December 2021 goes to Specialist Cars Luton 

A recent survey by the Motor Ombudsman found that 68% of motorists plan to 

 due to the current cost of living crisis.

The survey of 2,000 participants revealed that 56% of car owners didn't currently have a service plan, 23% expected to delay their service and 33% expected to miss their annual recommend service entirely.

 isn’t mandatory, the check is recommended by manufacturers and is important for keeping the vehicle in good condition and safe for road users. 60% of respondents recognised the importance of an annual service and 35% understood the positive impact a service history can have on the vehicle’s resale value.

The survey revealed motorists were concerned about the cost-of-living hike, with 87% of motorists concerned about the high cost of petrol and diesel, as well as other large increases, such as National Insurance rising to 1.25% and an increase in inflation resulting in higher supermarket goods.

Consumers plan to react by cutting back on their vehicle use by walking or cycling, driving more efficiently to reduce fuel consumption, and shopping around for cheaper car insurance.

Find out more about reducing your fuel consumption.

Bill Fennell, Managing Director of the Motor Ombudsman, said “April has seen a coming together of several cost of living increases, which have unfortunately hit the wallets of consumers all at the same time. It’s therefore inevitable that something has to give, and our study has shown that servicing and vehicle maintenance is being seen as less of a priority. This is, of course, concerning – not following the vehicle manufacturer’s servicing schedule, and not taking their car to a garage to be looked at by a professional in the event of any mechanical problems is essentially compromising the safety and value of the vehicle.” 

Bumper’s PayLater platform puts drivers back in the driving seat by allowing them to split repairs, MOTs, services and accessories in monthly instalments, completely interest-free. Our quick and easy-to-complete applications are completed online in just a few clicks.

Complete the registration form on our website for more information about how Bumper can grow your aftersales department.

Motorists plan to delay service due to cost of living crisis

We’re pleased to announce the Dealership of the Month award for October 2021 goes to Burrows Toyota Sheffield. 

The team at Toyota Sheffield have performed exceptionally well this month with Bumper. Since undertaking Bumper's new online training sessions, the team have introduced PayLater as key part of their aftersales process. 

During the training, the team learned how to complete applications in under 60 seconds and how to appropriately provide a credit product to consumers in an aftersales environment. 

Not only did the team perform well in sales this month, but they also provided outstanding customer service. Here’s what some Toyota Sheffield Customers had to say: 

“It was well explained, it was great we could split the bill over 4 months interest-free” 

“An easier option to spread payments without any interest. Thank you very much for providing this facility.” 

“Large garage bill, thanks to Bumper I can spread the cost with no interest or fees. Thank you” 

“Very good service, with no complications” 

Well done to Nikki, Ben, Codie, and the rest of the team at Burrows! 

Burrows Toyota Sheffield: Dealership of the Month October 2021

Nissan is partnering with Bumper to offer aftersales customers the option of interest-free payments for servicing and repair work across its 194-strong dealer network. 

The announcement follows the successful launch of Bumper’s Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) digital payment platform with West Way, the UK’s largest Nissan dealer group. 

Bumper’s service is available from now to all participating Nissan dealers, with customers given the opportunity to split their aftersales bills – including accessories, maintenance and 

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Bumper to provide the option of more flexible payment options to aftersales customers across the UK,” said Chris Marsh, Aftersales Director, at Nissan. 

“The ability for our customers to split their bills into affordable interest-free monthly payments will further enhance the customer experience and innovation offered by our retailers. We have already seen great outcomes for dealer workshops using the Bumper platform, with an average transaction of £670 on a typical six year-old-car – a key target area for our retailers.” 

Jack Allman, CCO of Bumper, said: “Working with Nissan, as its sole recommended supplier of BNPL, will provide owners with greater flexibility in how they pay for aftersales work. 

“The provision of BNPL in workshops is still a relatively new concept which is resonating with customers as it removes the need for them to find cash to pay for work or use a credit card. 

“This flexibility is also enabling aftersales departments to retain customers and sell unbudgeted work that might otherwise prove difficult.” 

Recent months have seen Bumper, the eighth fastest growing company in the 2021 FT1000, also partner with Ford, Volkswagen Group and Jaguar Land Rover as well as Arnold Clark and CitNOW. 

Bumper provides an interest-free digital payment platform for vehicle repairs and services, enabling owners to spread their costs. 

Bumper is based in Sheffield and London, with a tech development centre in Ankara, Turkey. 

Nissan partners with Bumper to offer aftersales customers interest-free monthly payments 

Bumper, the digital payment platform for vehicle repairs, services, accessories and add-ons, has announced the appointment of James Hind as a non-executive director.

The co-founder and CEO of carwow brings a wealth of digital automotive experience to the business as it prepares to launch across Europe.

“We’re incredibly excited to welcome James Hind as a non-executive director. His extensive experience of successfully scaling a disruptive automotive tech business in the UK, Spain and Germany will be invaluable to us,” said James Jackson, CEO and co-founder, Bumper.

“As an entrepreneur James is highly regarded across the automotive sector having grown carwow from a small start-up to an international business with over 400 employees and £5bn of car sales through it in 2021 alone, so we’re thrilled to have him onboard,” he said.

Speaking about his appointment Hind said: “Car repair and servicing bills are often a big financial burden for many consumers and Bumper has created a great way to spread the cost of that, helping avoid the need to take on expensive loans. Its platform is great for dealers too, providing them with a full suite of digital payment options for customers to fund workshop and add-on bills which has been a gamechanger and that shows with the huge adoption they’ve got.

“I’ll be supporting the management team as they grow its operations and offerings in the UK and across Europe. I’ve followed Bumper’s rapid rise with keen interest and look forward to working with the business to assist the next phase of its growth,” he said.

Hind joins Bumper following the recent expansion of its executive team with four new appointments: Francisca Gutierrez (chief product officer

Paul Edgecombe (chief compliance officer), 

Matt Williams (chief growth officer) and Leah Ellis (

named by the Financial Times as one of the fastest-growing FinTechs in its FT1000 rankings of Europe’s fastest growing companies.

Bumper appoints carwow’s James Hind as non-executive director

Research carried out over the last couple of years by companies such as Kwik Fit and Evans Halshaw has highlighted the extent to which motorists put off vital car maintenance; often opting to drive their vehicles in an unroadworthy state, simply because the cost of repairs exceeds their financial limits.

As revealed in an article from This Is Money, over 1.2 million UK motorists have admitted to knowingly driving cars that are not fit for the road. A large proportion of owners have also chosen the 'cheap fix' route of DIY repairs. Although this may sometimes be an acceptable move for those who know their way around an engine, repairs from the 'have a go' novice or 'friend of a friend' are extremely worrying. Indeed, as Kwik Fit discovered, of those who decide to carry out repairs themselves, "a third said the quality of the work they or a friend or relative did concern them".

Many motorists fail to realise that, as well as being dangerous, driving an unroadworthy vehicle is actually a criminal offence. A faulty exhaust system, faulty brakes, worn-out tyres, damaged seatbelts or even cracked 

 could all result in a fine of up to £3000 and 3 points on a licence. In some cases, motorists could even find themselves on a 'careless driving' charge. Of course, driving a vehicle that is unroadworthy can have far more dire consequences; posing a serious risk to the lives of the driver, other motorists, passengers and pedestrians.

Regional police units are routinely pulling dangerous cars from our roads as part of a national operation aimed at tackling unsafe and unroadworthy vehicles. Where possible, however, we need to prevent these cars from being on the roads in the first place! Given that cost is the main reason cited for the avoidance of repairs and maintenance work, dealerships can play a key role in promoting road safety; specifically, by offering cash-strapped motorists an affordable, achievable way of paying for repairs.

As with Bumper, the option to spread payments over a realistic time frame, at no extra cost, encourages motorists to put safety first:

A responsible lending solution means drivers can have work carried out at a reliable franchised workshop. It eliminates the need to 'shop around' and risks choosing somebody less reputable for the sake of a 'cheap fix'.

The ability to comfortably meet payments lessens the temptation to carry out DIY 'bodge jobs'.

For customers who may have otherwise been tempted to skip repairs altogether, interest-free payment plans offer the flexibility to 'fix now, pay later'. Motorists are given peace of mind that their vehicle is in safe working order and financial outlay is controlled.

Aftersales finance offers many benefits for dealerships, but it isn't always about enabling a larger proportion of red and amber work to be sold; it's also about demonstrating a duty of care to the customer.

Alastair Shephard

Content Writer