By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY--Splitit Payments Ltd.'s growth in the crowded buy-now-pay-later industry has been hamstrung by its failure to articulate its differences compared with rival platforms, its interim chief executive said.
John Harper, a former Macy's Inc. executive who replaced Brad Paterson in August, said the installment-payments minnow had not secured necessary visibility at retail checkouts or given merchants sufficient reason to choose it over better-known rivals.
Unlike rivals including Afterpay Ltd., Zip Co. Ltd. and Affirm Holdings Inc., Splitit allows customers to utilize untapped credit on existing card accounts to fund installment payments.
"We have to do a better job simplifying that message and differentiating ourselves from our competition. As you look at it, at the checkout especially, it's not clear why you should put Splitit in some cases over our competition," Mr Harper said on Friday during an investor call.
Splitit lifted revenue for the three months through September by 20% on-year to US$2.6 million, a relatively low pace of growth compared to many rivals in the fast-growing industry. The increase was just 2% on the previous three months.
The total value of transactions on its platform rose by 31% on-year to US$93 million, with merchant numbers growing by 85% to 1,200 over the same period.
Mr. Harper said he was trying to entice what he called larger-value merchants onto the platform. He said Alphabet Inc.'s Google was very happy with the results of a partnership with Splitit in Japan.
"Merchants is a key part of the strategy going forward and something I can help open doors to given my experience," he said.
Mr. Harper said he would be interested in becoming chief executive on a permanent basis. He said he anticipated an announcement on Mr. Paterson's permanent successor within months.
Chief Financial Officer Ben Malone said the company did not need to raise any capital in the short-term. He added that a Nasdaq listing was a possibility as Splitit seeks to raise its profile in the world's largest consumer market, although he said any listing in the U.S. was some way off.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com
