Pay advance provider Beforepay has turned to partnerships as a new avenue for business growth, adding a deal with Western Union to the pilot it launched with tax accountancy H&R Block last year. In September, Beforepay launched a pilot of a new product, a tax refund advance, with H&R Block. It hopes to have the product in the market by July. The tax refund advance allows eligible H&R Block customers to receive up to A$1,000 in advance of a tax refund. Customers pay a flat fee of 5 per cent, with no interest payments or late fees (the same structure as Beforepay’s pay advance loan). In its latest move, Beforepay is working with Western Union on a “send now, pay later” product that will allow consumers to transfer up to $2,000 of borrowed money through Western Union using a pay advance loan. The pay advance will be available through the Western Union mobile app and website. Beforepay chief executive Jamie Twiss said the company was keen to develop other partnerships but would probably limit such arrangements to a handful of well-known corporates. Speaking at the presentation of the company’s December half results yesterday, Twiss said Beforepay was on track to achieve profitability without having to raise additional capital. The value of pay advances during the half was $303.9 million – an increase of 130 per cent over the previous corresponding period. Active user numbers grew 47 per cent to more than 203,000. Revenue was up almost three-fold to $14.6 million. The company cut its losses from $19.6 million in the December half 2021 to a loss of $4.4 million in the latest half. On average, Beforepay customers take out pay advances of $391 for 25 days. This high turnover means the company does not have a big funding requirement. It has a debt facility agreement with Longreach Credit Investors with a limit of $45 million.  Beforepay has $29.5 million drawn under the facility currently. Its finance costs were just $1.4 million in the December half. The company said its sensitivity to rising interest rates is low. Credit quality has improved. Net transaction losses fell from 2.9 per cent of pay advances in the December half 2021 to 2.3 per cent in the latest half.