Fintech company Upgrade Inc has announced the acquisition of Uplift Inc, the leading provider of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payment and credit products to travelers.
Under the helm of Denise Heffron, Managing Director Uplift Inc, Canada has seen exceptional growth since its launch in 2019 and is currently the market leader in 2023. The company already partners with over 300 of the largest airlines, cruise lines and hotel chains in the United States and Canada including major players Air Canada, Sunwing, TravelBrands, Transat, Porter, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC, Margaritaville at Sea and Palace Resorts.
“We are very excited about the opportunities this acquisition will provide for our both partners and mutual clients," Heffron told TravelPulse Canada Thursday morning. "The combined expertise of Upgrade and Uplift propel growth and development and enable us to better serve the Canadian travel market. As the leading BNPL provider for travel our team looks forward to bringing more options to Canadian travellers, helping them make their travel dreams a reality.”
"We are thrilled to welcome Uplift team members, partners and customers to Upgrade," said Renaud Laplanche, co-founder and CEO at Upgrade. "The Uplift team has established the company as the leading BNPL provider in the travel industry, and we look forward to combining forces to make travel more accessible and affordable for millions of consumers, and over time implement similar solutions in adjacent parts of our customers' lives."
"We believe this combination will accelerate Uplift's ability to help consumers pay for their trips through simple and affordable monthly installments," said Tom Botts, Chief Commercial Officer at Uplift. "As part of Upgrade, more resources will be available to better serve our partners and customers to continue to develop simple, surprise-free, and straightforward payment plans to ensure people can pay for the things that matter most, the ones that elevate their lives."
Travel financing fits within Upgrade's strategy of making credit available at the point of sale to finance meaningful expenses such as buying a car or making home improvements, in addition to making credit available directly to consumers through cards and loans. Upgrade has delivered over $24 billion in affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers through cards and loans since its inception in 2017. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an operations center in Phoenix, Arizona, a technology center in Montreal, Canada and regional offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Irvine, California.
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