The UK’s largest provider of intensive driving courses, PassMeFast based in Salford, used short-term lending to enable its mission to make driving lessons accessible for everyone. Since introducing flexible Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) finance option, Payl8r, three years ago, the school has seen over 3,000 students pass their driving tests. PassMeFast provides intensive, semi-intensive, and crash-course driving lessons across all of Great Britain and is headquartered in Salford, Manchester. Since introducing Payl8r as a spread-the-cost payment option at checkout, PassMeFast has seen finance orders ‘skyrocket’ by 1011%. On average, it costs £2,500 to learn to drive, a 215% rise in the past 30 years, amounting to over 7% of the average UK salary. Research has found that with costs rising, and access to lessons becoming increasingly inaccessible to lower-income individuals, GenZ are less likely to learn to drive than Millennials. This is despite the Department of Transport stating that having access to a personal car makes it 3.8 times more likely that someone is employed rather than unemployed. James Daniel, PassMeFast customer: “Without PassMeFast and its finance option, Payl8r, I wouldn’t have been able to pass my driving test. Other driving schools in my area required large sum payments which wasn’t an option for me at the time. Being able to spread the cost meant that I could focus on my lessons without worrying about my finances. The flexibility of repayments meant that I was even able to pay off extra at one time which brought down my monthly costs. I would highly recommend PassMeFast and Payl8r to anyone who’s looking for an easy and flexible driving course.” This comes at a time when the BNPL market is under increasing scrutiny, with major providers offering finance for minor, low-cost purchases such as takeaways and groceries - a move that debt experts have voiced major concerns over. Such concerns have led the Government to propose new legislation, imposing tighter regulations on lenders. Payl8r is currently the only BNPL provider regulated by the FCA, this is likely to change if new legislation comes in and lenders are forced to adhere to regulation. Samantha Fogerty, chief operating officer of Payl8r: “Regulated finance options are crucial to enabling people access to key life skills. Working with PassMeFast has enabled thousands of students to pass their driving tests who may not have been able to afford lessons without a BNPL option. Regulated BNPL options can add major value to people's lives and help to limit financial exclusions.” Payl8r is one of few short-term lenders operating in the subprime market, facilitated through its use of Open Banking. By providing real-time insight into prospective borrowers, Open Banking gives full scope to lenders of customers’ financial situation, looking beyond a thin credit file. Customers with lower credit scores have a higher likelihood of accessing short-term loans, limiting their chances of being refused by a lender and seeking high-risk unregulated finance options. Claude Birtwistle, director of finance and commercial from PassMeFast: “Our partnership with Payl8r has significantly widened finance accessibility and has allowed us to welcome students who might otherwise have been excluded from traditional financing options. The diversity of our customer base required a finance partner who could match our need for inclusivity. Payl8r’s product range has been a perfect fit, catering not just to those with stellar credit scores but also to individuals with thinner files or less-than-perfect credit.” PassMeFast’s successful three-year offering of Payl8r continues to break financial barriers for those trying to gain key life skills by financially empowering individuals and giving greater control over credit.
