TORONTO — Uplift, which earlier this month announced the appointment of Denise Heffron as its Managing Director overseeing the Canadian market, has signed its first Canadian retailer.

Tripcentral.ca has added Uplift’s installment payment option plan to its product offering.

Richard Vanderlubbe, President, tripcentral.ca, says recent surveys conducted by tripcentral.ca for Canadian leisure travellers showed a desire for alternative payment methods.

When asked what was stopping leisure travellers from booking their dream vacation, ‘money’ was cited by 56% over other issues such as time off work (16%) or health issues (7%).

Of those citing ‘money’ as a blocker, 22% said they would use 12 monthly payments at lower than credit card interest ‘in a heartbeat’, and a further 37% said they would consider it if the application was a few clicks and easy.

“The online application process is smooth and easy,” says Vanderlubbe.  “We’ve tried other financing programs in the past but they were cumbersome. Ease of application and processing is critical, and Uplift has done a great job. We also like the fact that there are no ‘gotchas’ – no penalty amounts for non-payment deadlines and consumers can pay off the loan early if they wish.”

Uplift is based in California and already available in the U.S. on websites including Kayak.com, Allegiant Travel Company, Southwest Vacations, American Airlines Vacations, NCL and United Airlines Vacations.

“We believe low-friction monthly installments will be a game changer for the Canadian travel industry, allowing more people to realize their dream vacations and create years of travel memories,” says Denise Heffron, Managing Director of Uplift in Canada.

Uplift, which offers a stand-alone agent tool – ensuring access for both online and offline customers – announced Heffron’s appointment on March 7. Heffron was with Transat for 25 years, most recently as VP National Sales and Commercial.