The company announced its fifth consecutive quarter of growth, as well as an improvement to its credit quality. Shares were trading up to 30% higher in heavy morning trade before finally closing 2.95 higher at 35.5 cents.

The specialist high-value buy now pay later service provider, which gives merchants in Australia and New Zealand in-store and online deferred payment solutions from $1000 – $20,000 for their customers’ more considered purchases, achieved record quarterly Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) was $27.6 million, up 72% on the prior corresponding period (pcp). This was led by a 294% increase in home improvement items.

Total customers increased 5,800 in the quarter to reach 59,300, up 58% on pcp. Total merchant stores expanded to 3,523, up 34% on pcp following new strategic partnerships in the period.

Commenting on the Q1 FY22 performance, Co-CEO Piers Redward said: “The September quarter has been yet another record quarter for Payright despite extensive lockdowns across Australia and New Zealand. We have sustained momentum across all key metrics, including GMV, Receivables, Customers, and Merchant Stores. Our performance shows strong demand for our merchant products and services, and that consumers are opting to use Payright’s flexible payment arrangements as a more affordable purchase solution.

“Our strategy of pursuing merchants with higher transaction values continues to gain significant traction. Recent partnerships with Masport, Service Seeking and O’Brien Group Plumbing and Electrical divisions, are seeing us gain market share in the home improvement sector as more consumers become aware of the availability and convenience of the Payright BNPL offering. To further cement our position in this key vertical we are working closely with our growing base of merchants to help promote Payright’s offering and become the preferred BNPL provider for considered purchases.

“Despite the pandemic, arrears have remained low at 3.18%, improving 18bps versus the June 2021 quarter. Our robust internal underwriting measures and collections practices have helped us navigate the balance between maintaining and protecting the quality of the loan book and accommodating COVID impacted customer hardship.”

Co-CEO, Myles Redward, added: “We are consistently attracting new customers in key target verticals with higher transaction values and the recent launch of our app has further increased usability and accessibility of our product, contributing to the 58% increase in total customer numbers. The team is focused on continuing to innovate and build new features that will enhance the customer experience and help people pay and manage their cash flow on their preferred terms.

“With many states and territories now emerging from lockdown, we expect to see an uptick across our key metrics leading into November, December, and January. We anticipate our growth to be sustained as the economy bounces back and consumers have the option to use our BNPL solution both in-store and online.”