Afterpay and ZIP: The Comparison

Launched in 2014 in Australia, Afterpay has become the most highly used buy now pay later (BNPL) industry in these six years. Afterpay and ZIP are the most used buy now, deliver later services in the Australian market.

Currently, around 3.4 million customers in Australia and New Zealand use Afterpay for their transactions. Likewise, ZIP also has a prominent number of 2 million users in those countries.

Afterpay functions in four equal fortnightly installments. If anyone wishes to do their transactions with Afterpay, he will have to make four equal payments on a fortnightly basis. He will have to pay his first installment during the purchase.

On the other hand, ZIP Pay is offered by Zip Co. While doing transactions with ZIP; one should never miss a payment; failure to do so will be charged additional fees.

Differences between Afterpay and ZIP

ZIP and Afterpay differ from each other in various concepts starting with:

Account Keeping Fees

ZIP costs you $6 per month as an Account keeping fee if you have any outstanding balance. On the contrary Afterpay users are charged fees only if they miss any payment.

Repayment Policy

While using Afterpay, users are compelled to pay their transaction amount in six whole weeks. Moreover, it also requires its users to pay their first installment during the time of purchase itself.

On the other hand, ZIP users are allowed to pay a minimum of $40 per month for their expenses. Unlike Afterpay, ZIP users don’t have to pay 25% of their transactions during the purchase.

Shopping Limitations

After pay has limited its use to outlets that accept the Afterpay App, this Afterpay App also features a bar code. Likewise, ZIP also has fewer retail partners than Afterpay.

With the recent collaboration of ZIP pay with Visa, its presence is available at all the stores which accept Visa.

Why is Afterpay better than ZIP pay?

Both these BNPL apps are fantastic in their way. However, users these days have slightly inclined toward Afterpay due to its easy policies and features. In this section, we have tried and figured out what makes Afterpay a better BNPL platform than ZIP pay.

Fees

The first and foremost thing that Afterpay stands out in comparison to ZIP is its account charging fees. Afterpay does not charge any fees to its customers for their accounting. However, it charges $10 as a fine if its users miss a repayment.

While on the contrary, ZIP charges $6 monthly as account keeping fees. However, the fees are returned if you pay back the entire ZIP pay balance before the month’s end.

Limitations

Users willing to use Afterpay payment must ensure that the store accepts payment via Aftepay. Speaking of now, Afterpay currently has more than 55 thousand merchant partners around Australia and New Zealand.

Just like Afterpay, ZIP also has agreed on partnerships in various places with an appealing no. of merchants in Australia. Speaking of now, ZIP currently has more than 26 thousand retail and online partners all across Australia.

Transaction

The significant difference between these buy now, pay later platforms is their transaction cap. At the same time, Afterpay has $1500 as its limit per transaction. On the other hand, ZIP only has $1000 as its limit per payment.

Hardship Policy

Afterpay supports its customer at the time of their hardship. If any Afterpay user is financially unstable and has a problem paying his Afterpay repayments in time, then Afterpay may offer support according to its hardship policy.

Users have o fill up an online form or inform the Afterpay authority via call about their inability to pay their payment on time. At such time Afterpay helps its users by moving the date of payment, compensating for late fees, or arranging a new payment plan.

The same applies to ZIP Pay; it also looks out for its users by arranging short-term payment arrangements, a moratorium on payments, or loan variations.