American Express (Amex) announced that it plans to partner with Opy, the U.S. subsidiary of Australian fintech Openpay, to allow all of its U.S. cardmembers to pay in installments for qualifying purchases in the healthcare and automotive segments.

TechCrunch reports that the partnership is American Express’s first third-party BNPL agreement in the United States. Amex will help onboard merchants in these sectors onto its platform.

Opy describes its solution as an improved version of the traditional BNPL model, which it calls “buy now, pay smarter.” Opy will lend up to $20,000 at once to a customer, charging them a fixed fee and offering plans as long as 24 months, unlike the shorter-term installments offered by companies like Affirm and Klarna.



American Express already offers its own BNPL options under its “Pay it Plan it” program launched in 2017 for purchases above $100, which also offers a fixed interest rate.

“The Opy partnership will help Amex meet demand for options to finance large purchases over longer periods of time,” Opy U.S. CEO Brian Shniderman stated.

“If it’s a big item - and this is where we specialize - things that are $1,000 to $20,000, 60 days isn’t really enough time to pay off something that’s more expensive,” he said.

According to Shniderman, the company is able to offer lower rates, never higher than 9.99%, because it targets very specific sectors that attract financially savvy customers. Its average customer is 40 years old, while many other BNPL providers’ average customers are in their 20s, he added.

Besides healthcare and automotive, Opy offers financing for home improvement and educational certification, though those two verticals are not set to be included in the Amex partnership.

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