American Banker
American Express is diving further into installment lending, launching a new option for credit card customers to pay for flights in monthly chunks through its travel platform.
Customers are now able to use Amex’s “Plan It” feature — which lets customers set up installment plans for card purchases above $100 — for any flights they book on the American Express Travel website. That essentially moves the Plan It feature up directly to the point of sale, rather than requiring customers to log into their Amex accounts and switch a prior card purchase to an installment plan after the fact.
The move is another step forward for the “buy now, pay later” model, which major card players are increasingly adopting as they face competition from upstart installment lenders such as Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna.
