Alastair Shephard

Content Writer

We are pleased to announce that we won Alternative Lender of the Year in the New Lender category at Credit Strategy’s Credit Awards 2019!

This year’s awards celebrated the 20th year the event has been held. The evening was hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr at Grosvenor House Hotel, London on the 16th May and saw winners such as Capita, Vodafone, Barclays and HSBC walk away with awards.

The winners were selected by a panel of judges who look to reward companies for their “hard work, innovative outlook and industry-shaping solutions”. Amongst the panel were specialists in the credit industry from Santander, Lloyds and Metro bank.

The award recognizes the growing popularity of the pay monthly option within the aftersales industry and how Bumper is leading the way with an exceptional product and service for OEM-franchises; independent garages and, ultimately, the customer.

James Jackson, CEO of Bumper stated, “A fantastic win for Bumper at an event as prestigious as the Credit Awards, particularly given how many great FinTech businesses there are in the UK right now. This award recognizes the work we do to empower car dealerships up and down the UK. We are proud to work with nearly 2,000 dealerships with the goal of becoming Europe’s largest aftersales finance provider over the next few years.”

This is Bumper’s second award this year and, hopefully, there are many more to come!

Credit Where Credit’s Due: A Win For ASF At The Credit Awards 2019

We are pleased to have been named as a finalist at Credit Strategy’s Lending Awards 2019 in the Alternative Consumer Lender of the Year category.

What could be our third win of the year, the Lending awards will see 

 compete against other alternative lenders such as Oakbrook Finance and Savvy.co.uk.

Judges picked the finalists with the most innovative business models and product range. Areas such as customer satisfaction, the volume of credit provided to borrowers, organisational growth and financial success were also considered when picking the shortlist.

The winner will be announced on the 12th November at the Hilton in Bankside, London.

Congratulations to all the finalists this year.

Bumper Named Finalist At Lending Awards 2019

Team Bumper were at Automotive Management Live 2019 Thursday 7th November discussing our latest ecommerce plug-ins.

 AM Live allows suppliers to the automotive industry to share industry best practice and discuss how to prepare for the future of motor retail.

The main objective for the team this year was to showcase our new ecommerce plug-ins allowing customers to apply for interest free finance at home when sent an invoice break-down by dealerships signed up to the service.

This will give consumers greater access to finance and dealerships and a more connected experience.

Bumper Exhibit New Ecommerce Plug-ins at AM Live 2019

We are thrilled to announce Bumper has been chosen as Alternative Consumer Lender of the Year 2019 at the prestigious Experian’s Lending awards.

The Lending Awards is the only award programme distinguishing and rewarding individuals and businesses across the spectrum of three of the largest sectors in the UK credit market

The awards, held at the Hilton in London Bankside, saw winners such as Rate Setter and Hitachi Capital Business Finance.

This latest achievement comes as our third award having won at the FStech and Credit Strategy awards earlier this year.

Bumper Win Third Award of The Year at Lending Awards 2019

We are delighted to have been announced as the winner for Best New Product or Service for our online payment portal at the Automotive Management awards last week.

The awards, held annually, are dedicated to acknowledging exemplary performance and innovation in the Automotive Industry. Other winners included Kia Motors UK for Franchise of the year; one of our partnered dealerships, VW Wrexham, as Best Used Car Dealership; and a recent partnership for ASF, Citygate SEAT Reading.

Following our wins at FSTech Awards, Credit Awards and the Lending Awards last year, this is the company’s fourth win to date.

Congratulations to all of the evening’s winners!

Bumper Win At AM Awards 2020

We are pleased to announce we have received our largest investment to date after our latest funding round.

An £850,000 investment has been secured through equity given to private investors. This brings our total investment to £4 million over the last 5 years. This comes alongside our £13.3 million debt facility provided by Naviter Capital, who was also one of the equity investors.

This latest investment follows a long period of growth, with over 2,000 UK dealerships using our 

 option to sell over £50 million pounds worth of service work since our launch in 2015. A large increase came in 2019 where lending grew 100% year-on-year. An increase due to trusted partnerships with brands such as Peugeot Citroen, Ford, Vauxhall, Jaguar Landrover and Volkswagen and a commitment to providing an ethical payment option to customers and a reliable and robust solution to dealerships.

 CEO James Jackson said, “Dealerships are going through a particularly difficult time at the moment amid the ongoing impact of the Coronavirus and while this will lead to an unavoidable short term slowdown in aftersales activity many have already recognised the longer term importance of adopting interest-free payment methods within their service departments. This is especially important when it comes to selling work that they would have otherwise missed out on.

“In the short term we’re committed to helping provide dealers that are still offering aftersales support with the ability to offer their customers flexible payment methods, something that will be beneficial to both vehicle owners and dealerships alike in the challenging times ahead. This has included developing a fund to help vulnerable customers by discounting their final repayment bills during the ongoing pandemic. Beyond this, we aim to increase both our footprint and the utilisation of our platform across the UK.”

Bumper Future Looks Bright as latest funding round secures £14 Million Investment

With many big online and high street names offering customers greater flexibility Buy now Pay Later is growing in popularity. Currys, Ikea, Very.co.uk and many others engage consumers with offers of slicing their bills and delaying payments.

Buy now pay later is a finance option that allows you to make purchases either by splitting them into monthly payments and/or delaying the payments to a later date.

Some providers have interest bearing BNPL options so it’s important to find out before applying, however this will often be made clear to you beforehand. Other providers, such as Bumper for car repairs, is interest free and won’t charge you extra for splitting your bill.

Why is Buy Now Pay Later becoming more popular?

For online shoppers using sites such as Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and ASOS BNPL allows customers to purchase more items and return clothes before payments are made. Retailers offering BNPL on larger items, for example washing machines at Currys or 

, allows customers to split often unexpected bills into affordable monthly payments.

Will using Buy Now Pay Later affect my credit score?

As some BNPL options require a credit check it can be used as a way to boost your credit score. Regular on-time payments are reported back to the credit reference agency and can be looked upon as favourable by lenders in the future. For advice and to see your credit score you should consult a credit reference agency such as Experian.

Bumper is an interest free solution for car repairs and services that is customer centric and responsible. To get your Credit Limit and find participating garages and dealerships clickhere.

Buy Now PayLater: Fastest Growing Payment Method Globally

Bumper has been selected to join Tech Nation's highly specialised growth programme for the FinTech sector.

The programme is specially designed for companies ready to achieve their potential and scale. It consists of insights sessions delivered by some of the most established fintech entrepreneurs, investors, and partners.

The programme lasts for six months and includes an in-depth induction, a series of learning sessions and networking events with key stakeholders.

A record number of applications have been narrowed down to just 31 companies. The companies include Automated Intelligence, Aveni, Balkerne, BankBI, Bankifi, Caura, Coincover, Credas and Creditable.

Bumper CEO, James Jackson, said, “It’s great to be recognised by this Government-backed programme which selects the 30 most exciting FinTechs in the UK to help support them through their growth phase and includes an international showcase tour to help raise Bumper’s profile and potentially new investment. Previous graduates of the programme include FinTech Unicorns including Starling Bank, TransferWise and Revolut”.

Bumper is an interest-free financing solution for car repairs and services that is customer-centric and responsible.

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