London, 5 December 2023

Halfords Group PLC, the UK's largest leading provider of motoring and cycling products and services has selected Kriya, the leading embedded finance provider, to power payments and credit for its trade account customers. Under the partnership Kriya will embed its financial tools across Halfords stores, customer teams, and online.

As well as being a household name for motorists and cyclists nationwide, Halfords support over 250,000 small business and enterprise buyers in the motor trade. Through the Halfords Trade Card, the company provides its members exclusive deals on tools and spare parts. They also offer wholesale purchasing for Councils, Schools and Universities, and supply the popular Cycle2Work scheme for businesses.

Mechanics and tradespeople are typically paid after their end jobs are complete, putting a strain on working capital if parts need to be sourced in advance. By working with Kriya’s PayLater solution, Halfords is helping their Trade Card holders and Business customers better manage their cash flow with the ability to purchase on flexible payment terms.

Halfords sought an innovative, seamless solution for their buyers’ increasing multi-channel purchasing habits. Trade Card members will now benefit from being able to use embedded trade credit provided by Kriya wherever they prefer to order, whether online, click-and-collect or in store.

Working with Kriya also brings new efficiencies to Halfords. Much of their existing trade credit processes will be automated, improving the speed and quality of the customer experience they deliver. By using Kriya, Halfords can now service new types of business customers and manage much larger volumes of credit purchases.

Anthony Caie, Director of B2B & Services at Halfords said: “Being able to offer flexible payment terms to our B2B customers underpins our market offering. We want to invest in modernising the checkout process to attract more customers and drive loyalty in our customer base. Kriya has great experience with a number of large businesses, which made them a clear choice of partner. We’re excited to work with Kriya to digitise and provide flexible payment terms to a much wider range of trade customers.”

Anil Stocker, CEO & Founder, Kriya, said: “B2B commerce is changing. Trade buyers now expect consumer-level sophistication, credit and payment options. Forward-looking merchants like Halfords are now evaluating their current processes and realising how much opportunity they have to increase revenue, buyer loyalty and streamline financial friction.

We’re very proud to be selected by Halfords, which is testament to our 12-year history supporting business transactions with various digital payment products, and our experience working with large partners like Barclays Bank and the British Business Bank. We look forward to integrating and powering B2B sales across all of Halfords’ sales channels and business brands.”

About Kriya

Kriya is a leading  fintech platform that keeps business flowing brilliantly by providing frictionless access to B2B payments and credit through seamless integrations and instant credit decisions.

Founded in 2011 and now operating in the UK, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium, Kriya has helped businesses collect over £26 billion in B2B payments, and advanced over £3.4 billion worth of credit to suppliers and buyers.

Kriya has a wide-reaching network of strategic distribution partners including Barclays Bank, and is backed by a prestigious array of equity investors including Northzone, Barclays Bank and Mouro Capital (owned by Santander Bank).

About Halfords Group PLC

Halfords is the UK’s leading provider of motoring and cycling services and products. Customers shop at 386 Halfords stores, 2 Performance Cycling stores (trading as Tredz and Giant), 645 garages (trading as Halfords Autocentres, McConechy’s, Universal, National Tyres and Lodge Tyres) and have access to 266 mobile service vans (trading as Halfords Mobile Expert, Tyres on the Drive and National) and 554 Commercial vans. Customers can also shop at halfords.com and tredz.co.uk for pick up at their local store or direct home delivery, as well as booking garage services online at halfords.com