Blispay suspends lending, calls move ‘temporary’

In a move that it said was “temporary,” Baltimore fintech startup Blispay halted lending through its credit card that is designed to provide financing for store purchases. That means users cannot currently make purchases using the credit card.
In the Wednesday, November 21, blog post, CEO Greg Lisiewski cited demand as the reason.
“Due to tremendous demand, we’ve found ourselves in the position of needing to temporarily suspend lending in order to give us time to catch up with our growth,” he wrote. “We are working diligently to resume lending to new and existing customers as soon as possible.”
The Canton-based company allows consumers to apply online for a Visa card that has no interest on a purchase of $199 for six months. For smaller merchants, it’s designed to offer a financing option like the big box stores.
The move to suspend lending came just before Thanksgiving and the beginning of the busy holiday shopping season. The company said it would notify cardholders via email.
“We’ll also be reaching out to our merchant partners to apologize for not being able to help them meet their financing needs during the start of this holiday season, as we will not be accepting applications during this time period,”Lisiewski wrote. “We’re sorry to all of our existing, loyal merchant partners, as well as to our new partners who we’ve been working closely with to launch just in time for the holidays.”
The company launched in early 2016 and raised $24 million over two venture rounds.
“Our business is great. Our team is incredible. Our merchant partners and Blispay cardholders are vocal and happy. What we’ve done in a short period of time is inspiring and I know there are ways to continue growing into a hugely disruptive and meaningful consumer financial and merchant services provider,” Lisiewski wrote.
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