Alastair Shephard

Content Writer

Alastair Shephard | Author

We are delighted to have been announced as the winner for Best New Product or Service for our online payment portal at the Automotive Management awards last week.

The awards, held annually, are dedicated to acknowledging exemplary performance and innovation in the Automotive Industry. Other winners included Kia Motors UK for Franchise of the year; one of our partnered dealerships, VW Wrexham, as Best Used Car Dealership; and a recent partnership for ASF, Citygate SEAT Reading.

Following our wins at FSTech Awards, Credit Awards and the Lending Awards last year, this is the company’s fourth win to date.

Congratulations to all of the evening’s winners!

Bumper Win At AM Awards 2020

We are pleased to announce we have received our largest investment to date after our latest funding round.

An £850,000 investment has been secured through equity given to private investors. This brings our total investment to £4 million over the last 5 years. This comes alongside our £13.3 million debt facility provided by Naviter Capital, who was also one of the equity investors.

This latest investment follows a long period of growth, with over 2,000 UK dealerships using our 

 option to sell over £50 million pounds worth of service work since our launch in 2015. A large increase came in 2019 where lending grew 100% year-on-year. An increase due to trusted partnerships with brands such as Peugeot Citroen, Ford, Vauxhall, Jaguar Landrover and Volkswagen and a commitment to providing an ethical payment option to customers and a reliable and robust solution to dealerships.

 CEO James Jackson said, “Dealerships are going through a particularly difficult time at the moment amid the ongoing impact of the Coronavirus and while this will lead to an unavoidable short term slowdown in aftersales activity many have already recognised the longer term importance of adopting interest-free payment methods within their service departments. This is especially important when it comes to selling work that they would have otherwise missed out on.

“In the short term we’re committed to helping provide dealers that are still offering aftersales support with the ability to offer their customers flexible payment methods, something that will be beneficial to both vehicle owners and dealerships alike in the challenging times ahead. This has included developing a fund to help vulnerable customers by discounting their final repayment bills during the ongoing pandemic. Beyond this, we aim to increase both our footprint and the utilisation of our platform across the UK.”

Bumper Future Looks Bright as latest funding round secures £14 Million Investment

With many big online and high street names offering customers greater flexibility Buy now Pay Later is growing in popularity. Currys, Ikea, Very.co.uk and many others engage consumers with offers of slicing their bills and delaying payments.

Buy now pay later is a finance option that allows you to make purchases either by splitting them into monthly payments and/or delaying the payments to a later date.

Some providers have interest bearing BNPL options so it’s important to find out before applying, however this will often be made clear to you beforehand. Other providers, such as Bumper for car repairs, is interest free and won’t charge you extra for splitting your bill.

Why is Buy Now Pay Later becoming more popular?

For online shoppers using sites such as Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and ASOS BNPL allows customers to purchase more items and return clothes before payments are made. Retailers offering BNPL on larger items, for example washing machines at Currys or 

, allows customers to split often unexpected bills into affordable monthly payments.

Will using Buy Now Pay Later affect my credit score?

As some BNPL options require a credit check it can be used as a way to boost your credit score. Regular on-time payments are reported back to the credit reference agency and can be looked upon as favourable by lenders in the future. For advice and to see your credit score you should consult a credit reference agency such as Experian.

Bumper is an interest free solution for car repairs and services that is customer centric and responsible. To find out how much you can borrown and look for participating garages and dealerships, enter your reg and postcode on our website. 

Buy Now PayLater: Fastest Growing Payment Method Globally

Bumper has been selected to join Tech Nation's highly specialised growth programme for the FinTech sector.

The programme is specially designed for companies ready to achieve their potential and scale. It consists of insights sessions delivered by some of the most established fintech entrepreneurs, investors, and partners.

The programme lasts for six months and includes an in-depth induction, a series of learning sessions and networking events with key stakeholders.

A record number of applications have been narrowed down to just 31 companies. The companies include Automated Intelligence, Aveni, Balkerne, BankBI, Bankifi, Caura, Coincover, Credas and Creditable.

Bumper CEO, James Jackson, said, “It’s great to be recognised by this Government-backed programme which selects the 30 most exciting FinTechs in the UK to help support them through their growth phase and includes an international showcase tour to help raise Bumper’s profile and potentially new investment. Previous graduates of the programme include FinTech Unicorns including Starling Bank, TransferWise and Revolut”.

Bumper is an interest-free financing solution for car repairs and services that is customer-centric and responsible.

Bumper has teamed up with Ecologi to set and achieve goals for a carbon neutral future.

Bristol based, Ecologi, was set up to empower everyday people and businesses to help tackle the climate crisis. Funds raised go directly to planet saving projects. A key area of focus is Tree Planting, one of the best tools to help keep our temperatures from rising, and carbon reduction, the process of removing more greenhouses gases than are produced.

So far Bumper has funded the planting of 1,000 trees, which is 73.53 tonnes of carbon reduction. This is equivalent to 56 long haul flights, 148,428 miles driven in a car and 221 square meters of sea ice saved.

Bumper’s funding has already contributed to several green projects.

This project aims to provide long term access to clean water for families in the Zoba Debub district of Eritrea by repairing water boreholes. Boreholes are used in the region to access clean water however a large number are broken. Repaired water boreholes access naturally cleaned water purified as it percolates through pores in the rock and reduces the number of residents using fired wood as a means of purification.

Forest plantation on degraded grassland in Uruguay

Previously used for cattle grazing for 300 years, 21,298 hectares of land have been turned into sustainable managed forestry. The project, which is over seen by Rainforest Alliance, should remove 7,644,973 tonnes of CO2 in the next 60 years.

Our goal is to help plant 100,000 trees in the next 12 months and become a carbon neutral business.

To learn more about the work Ecologi is doing 

Bumper is an interest free financing solution for car repairs and services that is customer centric and responsible.

Bumper team up with Ecologi to tackle urgent climate crisis

A recent forecast produced by the DVSA predicted the number of MOTs carried out in October and November will be 60% higher than normal levels.

Their recent ‘Beat the Rush’ campaign caused one million vehicle owners to bring forward their test last month. More than one million MOTs that took place in September weren’t due until October 2020 – January 2021.

The DVSA said: “The key message now is for customers to book their MOT as early as possible. By encouraging customers to book early, we hope you are able to plan effectively for this busy period and maximise the number of MOTs you can complete.

For garages wanting to get involved in the DVSA’s ‘Beat The Rush’ campaign, you can find more information here. To find out more about how Bumper can help your customers with their repair bill in just a few clicks, click here.

If your MOT is due soon book in as early as possible. To split your next MOT or repair bill into monthly instalments at no extra cost and find garages in your area visit the Bumper website.

DVSA predict number of MOTs to be 60% higher than normal in October and November

Bumper are pleased to announce that they are now a Living Wage Accredited Employer.

The Living Wage Foundation campaigns for businesses to pay their staff a wage which meets everyday living costs.

Their proposed living rate is based on what real people need to live; a weekly shop, utility bills, rent and unexpected bills.

CEO & Co-Founder, James Jackson, said “As a responsible lender with a keen focus on treating customers fairly, it seemed only right to extend this to all our employees who all play such a vital role in offering a world class service to our customers and dealerships. The accreditation doesn’t just cover our direct employees, but also our contractors and suppliers – meaning our pledge has an even wider impact.”

Other companies taking part in the scheme include Ikea, Nationwide, Nestlé, Aviva and many others.

The new Living Wage is announced each year in November and Living Wage Accredited employers are expected to make any due pay rises within 6 months.

To find out more about the Living Wage Foundation visit 

Bumper is a Buy Now Pay Later provider for car repairs and servicing.

Bumper Becomes Living Wage Foundation Accredited

Bumper has been named the Best Finance Provider at the 2020 Motor Trader Industry Awards 2020.

The award ceremony was due to take place in October at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel but due to the recent government guidance surrounding Covid-19, the winners were revealed online each day throughout November.

This is the 5th award Bumper has won in the last two years, following on from our success in early 2020 and 2019:

CEO & Co-Founder, James Jackson, said: “I am so proud of what we have achieved over the last 2 years, beating a number of multinational brands to some incredible awards. It has spurred everyone at the company to keep working hard and continue to grow the brand – in a post Covid world.”

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