How to use Lendsqr’s API to build rent-now-pay-later

The average cost to rent a decent apartment has been increasing globally. Nigerian landlords, especially, are also not backing down on insisting that intending renters must pay their rental fee all at once, irrespective of the Nation’s current hyperinflation. This is a significant problem.

Now, you ask, what’s the credit ecosystem doing to curb this problem? Companies like Spleet, Moni Africa, and Ileyah are democratizing access to better housing through rent-now-pay-later (RNPL) loan services. 

If you’re a lender (or a prospect) thinking of offering rent-now-pay-later loan options or building an entire RNPL platform, the question is, how do you make it work? There are two ways to go about it. Let’s jump right in.

What a lender needs to build a rent-now-pay-later

• Partner websites: To leverage an already existing audience, partner websites are a good-to-have need. You can negotiate and establish agreements with rental listing websites or property management companies to integrate your RNPL service.
  
  
• Loan origination platform: A loan origination platform is a must-have to build an RNPL loan checkout system. This platform automates tasks like application routing, eligibility checks, and preliminary approvals to expedite the loan process, before the checkout is completed on your RNPL platform.
  
  
• Decision system: You need data, most importantly you need to be able to assess and make smart decisions from these data. To build a proper RNPL service, you must integrate with a loan origination platform that offers you the necessary tech stacks to create and modify your risk assessment criteria.
  
  
• Payments systems: Another must-have, is access to multiple payment systems and providers that serve this particular business model. One of which is direct debit.

Building a rent-now-pay-later is hard

Getting all this tech can be daunting and quite expensive. At a minimum, you would need paid:

• Product designers: To build a user-friendly interface for both renters (borrowers) and perhaps landlords, making the RNPL application and management process easy and convenient.
  
  
• Credit analysts: To develop models specifically tailored to assess your borrowers’ creditworthiness and to flesh out payment options that rightly fit your business model.
  
  
• Backend engineers: To build the core functionalities and data management systems that power your platform behind the scenes, ensuring smooth operation and data security.
  
  
• Frontend engineers: To design and develop the user interface of your platform for a smooth user experience across different devices, whether desktop, mobile, or tablet.
  
  
• DevOps engineers: To ensure smooth deployment, maintenance, and scalability of your platform. Including managing cloud infrastructure and troubleshooting issues.
  
  
• Cloud infrastructure: You would also need a reliable cloud infrastructure provider (these don’t come cheap!) to handle your user traffic, data storage, and ensure security and scalability for your growing platform. 

Build your rent-now-pay-later platform with Lendsqr API

Building it doesn’t have to be hard. Let’s show you how you can use Lendsqr APIs to build some of these things.

1. Independent rent-now-pay-later platform 

You’ve built a web or mobile platform where people can browse choice apartments and houses available for rent. To kickstart your RNPL process:

Sign up as a lender

The first step is to register as a lender on our platform. This involves setting up an account and providing necessary information to verify your identity and credentials as an authentic lender.

Integrate into our loan management software

Next, you integrate with our robust LMS is essential to efficiently manage your RNPL process. From the loan origination to loan processing, and payment, ensuring a smooth experience for both you and your renters (borrowers).

Configure your Buy-now-pay-later loan description channel

Now that you’ve successfully integrated with us. Define the parameters and terms of your Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) loans within your admin console. Specify key details such as, properties available, rent amounts, repayment schedules, minimum contribution,  interest rates, and risk assessment criteria to tailor your BNPL offering as a Rent-Now-Pay-Later (RNPL) to fit your target audience.

Embed this configuration into your website

Once configured, embed the RNPL loan description channel into your website’s interface. This allows borrowers to easily access and understand the terms of the RNPL offering while browsing available rental properties.

After this has been done, customers looking to rent through your platform can now pay rental fees in instalments, depending on the payment mode chosen. You can configure your RNPL loan payment to offer monthly or bi-weekly repayment options, among others. 

When they apply for any such loan, our decisioning API, such as Karma, can help you check if a borrower has previously defaulted on a loan or is still a defaulter on the loose. Learn more about Karma. You could also call on our Ecosystem Data API, our multiple credit bureau options, and other decision engines to help you confirm borrowers’ eligibility for an RNPL loan. When their eligibility has been confirmed, they get to the section where they must make a part payment (to validate legitimacy and sincerity about renting). 

For example, if a 2-bedroom apartment is leased out for 1 million naira, the borrower may be obliged to pay the sum of 300 thousand naira to the lender, while the lender covers the 700 thousand Naira portion in the form of a loan paid over an agreed-upon timeframe. The total sum of 1 million naira is then paid to the landlord. All of these can be configured on your Lendsqr admin console and then embedded on your rent-now-pay-later platform, which acts as a checkout. 

2. Embedded rent-now-pay-later platform

On the other hand, if you’re already a rent-now-pay-later loan business owner with the already-configured technology above (i.e. the amount, tenor, minimum contribution, modified BNPL loan channel, etc.), but still looking for a way to leverage the existing audience of top housing and property companies such as LandWey, Sujimoto LTD, Cortts Limited and so on. You can approach such companies with an offer to embed your rent-now-pay-later button on their website. This way, you can leverage their existing audience while providing affordable rent solutions.

It’s also worth noting that Lendsqr’s configurable loan forms allow you to customise and ask specific questions to ensure you get the right kind of customers. For example, suppose your RNPL loan option is targeted at the working class category. In that case, you can create a section of the application form for questions such as where they work, how much they earn, work email, work Identification card, payslip upload, etc. These can be used to validate how authentic and creditworthy they are and whether they fit the loan. Learn how to utilize configurable loan form for your loan business.

Building your rent-now-pay-later solution with confidence

The high rent cost strains many Nigerians, and traditional upfront payments can be a barrier to decent housing. Rent-now-pay-later (RNPL) loans can help, but building your platform as a lender seems complex and expensive.

The good news is that Lendsqr’s API cuts through the complexity. By integrating with our loan management software, you can leverage pre-built features like: 

• Loan origination tools for simplifying the application process for borrowers seeking RNPL options. 
• Decision-making tools like Karma, Ecosystem and others aid in assessing borrower eligibility. 
• Room for flexible payment configurations to tailor your RNPL offerings with various repayment structures. 
• Our configurable loan forms help you gather specific and relevant information specific to RNPL borrowers, like employment details.

Ready to get started? Contact our sales team at [email protected] to learn more about how Lendsqr’s API can power your Rent-Now-Pay-Later (RNPL) loan business.