Many pet owners understand the costs of managing a pet’s routine care, however, they are frequently financially unprepared when it comes to dealing with unexpected expenses. Overall spending in the U.S. pet industry is increasing at about 4% a year, up from $66.75 billion in 2016 to nearly $70 billion in 2018. With up to 50% of pet owners living paycheck to paycheck*, many are looking for additional payment options when it comes to treating their pet.

A survey of veterinary professionals conducted in December 2019 revealed lots of interesting information about the financial challenges that pet owners face when caring for their pets and what practices are doing to help mitigate these issues.

Check out our Infographic: Paying for Care Survey to see what we found.

Despite the majority of practices offering third-party payment plans, many pet owners say they either don’t understand the terms of those plans or don’t want to open up another line of credit due to additional fees and interest. Additionally, practice managers say that explaining the terms of the payment plans takes up too much time and results in bottlenecks at checkout. Even so, practice managers say that the demand is there, and that pet owners not only appreciate additional payment options, but practices also sell more products and services when those payment options are offered.

The payments process is in need of an overhaul. Fortunately, innovation is on its way. We developed VitusPay: an instant, familiar installment payment option for pet owners that helps make pet care more affordable – while you get paid upfront.

VitusPay is powered by Splitit and allows clients to choose their plan during in-exam room checkout: a more calm setting where pet owners can think through their options. Payments are automatically split up using an existing Visa or Mastercard credit card – so there are no complicated terms, lengthy applications or credit checks.

We take care of client education with a communication lifecycle that regularly drives awareness of the installment options, including service reminders and email campaigns.

This will give clients a budget-friendly way to pay, while differentiating your practice and generating additional revenue from clients who might otherwise defer services. Click here to learn more!

*Half of American families are living paycheck to paycheck, April 4, 2017, Marketwatch