Citi Actively Seeking Partners to Boost Awareness of Flex Pay Tool

Citi is actively pursuing partnerships to expand the reach and customer awareness of its pay-over-time feature, Flex Pay, according to Jeff Chwast, the bank's head of card digital strategy and on-card lending. This initiative follows the recent integration of Flex Pay with Apple Pay.

Speaking about the strategy, Chwast stated, "Citi continues to hunt for partners for its pay-over-time tool Flex Pay, in part to bolster customer awareness of the offering." The partnership with Apple Pay, launched last month, allows U.S. Citi cardholders to select Flex Pay as a payment option for purchases made through Apple's mobile wallet.

Flex Pay, which was initially launched in 2019 and is embedded within Citi's U.S. branded card portfolio of approximately 35 million accounts, enables customers to select purchases of $75 or more and pay them off in fixed monthly installments for a fee, rather than accruing interest. While Citi has seen substantial growth in Flex Pay usage, with a reported 25% increase in sales between 2023 and 2024, the bank aims to further enhance its visibility in the competitive buy now, pay later landscape.