Humm Group

Humm (formerly Flexigroup) is a BNPL provider operating in Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Flexigroup acquired Certegy Australia (a provider of interest-free financing in Australia and New Zealand) for AUD 31.4 million (approximately USD 30 million) in 2008. It underwent a corporate rebrand in August 2020 to focus on the BNPL segment, which saw Flexigroup unified with its BNPL brand Humm (launched in 2019 by Flexigroup through the restructuring of its legacy platforms, including the Certegy financing products). Flexigroup’s consumer finance (cards), commercial leasing, and SME financing services are also provided under Humm Group after the rebrand. Additionally, the company announced plans to raise AUD 140 million (approximately USD 97 million) in funding. 

Humm’s BNPL solutions include both B2C (Humm, Bundll, and Humm90) and B2B (HummPro) offerings. Humm’s original BNPL product is split into two, namely, “Little things,” providing financing for smaller ticket purchases up to AUD 2,000 (approximately USD 1,460), and “Big things,” financing purchases up to AUD 30,000 (around USD 22,000). Furthermore, Humm90 (launched in November 2020) offers up to 110 days interest-free on all purchases with no minimum spend. In addition, users can convert purchases of more than AUD 250 (around USD 180) into an interest-free installment plan across 9, 12, or 15 months, while long-term financing up to 60 months is available at select retailers.

Humm generates revenue through merchant service fees, interest, and consumer fees. The late payment fee for both wallets amount to AUD 10 (USD 8), respectively. The larger wallet charges include an establishment fee between AUD 35 (USD 25) and AUD 90 (USD 65) for initial purchases and AUD 22 (USD 16) for repeat purchases. 

Humm launched its B2B solution for small businesses, HummPro, in February 2021. The solution offers businesses to secure up to AUD 30,000 in financing to be paid in 6-12 months for a monthly charge of AUD 15 (USD 11), a minimum monthly plan fee of 1.5% (of the monthly balance), and a late fee penalty of AUD 20 (USD 15).  In June 2021, it launched a digital card, Humm//TAPP, allowing users to pay in-store regardless of the merchant’s POS system. Humm claims that it significantly reduces the time to integrate with the merchant (usually three months) for the in-store use of BNPL solutions. The service is provided in partnership with Mastercard and is available in-store at all Humm merchants.

In January 2023, scaled back its expansion activities into the UK due to adverse market conditions.

Key customers and partnerships  

In March 2023 , Humm partnered with Toronto-based tech startup Bidmii, to launch the BNPL financing option ‘Get it Done, Pay Later’ for home improvement solutions on Bidmii’s platform. Previous partnerships include that with Arnotts to provide BNPL solutions for Arnott customers purchasing furniture (February 2023), neobank Douugh to bring BNPL services to the US market (December 2020), Mastercard, to launch ‘Bundll’ which provided cardholders the option to use their ordinary Mastercard at any merchant either in-store or online to make purchases (February 2020).

Humm announced that the Australian payments firm Latitude Group Holdings Ltd. (Latitude) had extended a proposal to acquire Humm Consumer Finance (HCF) , which was later terminated by the two parties due to economic headwinds, including deteriorating consumer sentiment amid rising inflation. 

Funding and financials

Humm reported a 2% YoY decline in GMV to AUD 1.96 billion (~USD 1.28 billion) and a 24% YoY increase in gross income to AUD 298.7 million (~USD 195.7 million) for 1H FY2024 (half-year ending 31 December 2023) across its BNPL, credit card, and commercial and leasing business units.