The partnership will see RBC provide Financeit with at least $500 million in consumer loans, allowing merchants to get paid right away while customers pay off their purchases in installments. (The Logic)

Talking point: Toronto-based Financeit recently reached $1 billion in assets under management from more than 9,000 merchants across Canada. The 10-year-old company operates in an increasingly competitive space. Point-of-sale lending plans have taken off, adding fuel to startups like Afterpay and Affirm (which recently bought Toronto-based PayBright) and attracting interest from large financial institutions like Visa, Mastercard and Amex. A survey of U.S. consumers by data firm Cardify.ai found that nearly half of respondents said buy-now-pay-later plans would allow them to spend 10 to 20 per cent more than they would with just a credit card. Coupled with added savings many Canadians have accumulated during the pandemic, consumer lending could be a boon to merchants.