Tire Agent rides wave of point-of-sale financing growth

Tire Agent, a digital tire marketplace, picked up $5 million in funding to grow its business and support its tire financing platform called PayPair, which matches lenders with consumers of any credit score with a payment plan. Tire Agent aims to simplify the tire buying process, offering financing programs that include the cost of materials, installation, shipping, and warranties in one upfront price.

Why should we care?
The rise of platforms like Tire Agent is emblematic of the growth of point-of-sale financing, or "buy now, pay later" payment plans during the pandemic. Point-of-sale finance provider Affirm, which has an integration with Tire Agent, says it’s seen consumer demand up 300% in some categories since the beginning of the pandemic, and a 40% increase in merchant signups. Affirm CEO Max Levchin claims that point-of-sale loans see growth as consumers increasingly shop from home and are looking for low-cost purchase financing options that less easily pull them into debt. Other checkout loan platforms are also seeing growth, including Splitit and Afterpay. Tire Agent’s point-of-sale financing offerings are also evidence of a "verticalization" of financial services offerings from retail companies that cater to niche markets.