Consumer finance company RCS has partnered with Mr Price to offer the value fashion retailer's customers credit services, it announced on Monday.
The deal has been on the cards for some time as RCS said it was concluded in November 2020.
"[Mr Price's]... apparel division contributes 72% of group sales and 83% of profits, but has historically been predominantly cash-based, with only around 18.8% of sales on credit," said the finance company.
The low sales on credit is the gap RCS has seen and hopes to penetrate as the RCS store card will be accepted in over 1200 Mr Price stores.
The Mr Price group said in a trading statement to shareholders on Friday, for the 13 weeks ended 26 December 2020, that cash remained the preferred way that customers paid.
Regan Adams, CEO of RCS, said that the partnership with Mr Price was aligned with financial services company's key aim of enhancing the lifestyle of South Africans.
"In the current post-Covid-19 economic downturn, which has put South African consumers under considerable financial strain, RCS's financial services not only enhance individual's lifestyles, but also help retailers to achieve their objectives by focusing on their core business driver – retail – while relying on RCS to provide valuable strategic additions, such as tailor-made credit solutions," said the company.