AI Engineer I (Remote)

Sezzle is a financial-technology company that provides point-of-sale payment solutions enabling consumers to make purchases immediately and pay over time through short-term, interest-free installment plans. Operating as a payments platform and merchant partner, Sezzle’s core proposition is to increase consumer purchasing power and conversion for online and in-store merchants by offering a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) option at checkout. The company positions itself within the payments and fintech sectors, delivering both consumer-facing tools and merchant-facing integration, risk management, and settlement services. Company overview Sezzle offers a payments platform that integrates directly into merchant checkout experiences and into consumer payment flows via a dedicated app and customer accounts. For consumers, the service enables purchases to be split into multiple, typically four, interest-free installments paid over a short period (commonly six weeks), subject to approval. For merchants, Sezzle provides a turnkey integration that appears as a payment option at checkout, along with back-office merchant services including transaction settlement, reporting, fraud detection, and customer support related to installment payments. The platform is designed to help merchants increase order sizes and conversion rates by providing shoppers with an alternative to traditional credit-based financing. Core business activities Sezzle’s primary activities center on (1) underwriting and servicing consumer installment plans at the point of sale, (2) integrating its payment option into e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale systems for merchants, and (3) providing merchant services for settlement, reporting, and analytics. The company develops and maintains integrations and plugins for major e-commerce platforms, enabling merchants to deploy Sezzle as a payment method with minimal technical overhead. On the consumer side, Sezzle operates an account and application infrastructure that handles customer onboarding, transaction approvals, installment scheduling, payments collection, and account management. The company also invests in fraud prevention and credit-risk assessment tools to manage delinquency and protect merchant and platform exposures. Main products and services - Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) instalment plans: Sezzle’s core product allows customers to split purchases into a series of interest-free payments. The installment structure, timing, and approval criteria are presented at checkout. Sezzle assumes the purchase risk and pays merchants upfront (or on an accelerated schedule), enabling merchants to receive full or near-full payment while the consumer repays Sezzle over time. - Merchant integrations and platform plugins: Sezzle provides prebuilt integrations and developer APIs for popular commerce platforms to enable simple activation of the payment option on merchant websites and physical checkout systems. These integrations typically include a merchant dashboard for transaction management, settlement reconciliation, reporting, and performance analytics. - Consumer account and app: Consumers can create Sezzle accounts through the merchant checkout flow or the Sezzle mobile/web app. Account features include payment scheduling, payment method management, purchase history, and notifications. The platform also offers features intended to help consumers manage installment payments and avoid late fees. - Merchant services and funding: Sezzle provides financial settlement services to merchants, transferring funds for approved purchases according to contracted timelines. The company’s revenue model for merchants generally includes merchant fees charged per transaction in exchange for assuming risk and providing the payment service. Sezzle also supplies merchants with tools and reporting to monitor key performance indicators tied to the BNPL offering. - Risk management and fraud prevention: A crucial element of the Sezzle platform is its underwriting and fraud-detection capability, which reviews consumer applications and transaction patterns in real time to make approval decisions and mitigate losses. Sezzle’s risk infrastructure is built to balance consumer accessibility with protections for merchants and the platform itself. Market presence and channels Sezzle’s primary channels are e-commerce merchants and direct-to-consumer adoption via its app and checkout integrations. The company partners with a diverse range of retailers across categories such as apparel, electronics, health and beauty, and specialty retail. Sezzle’s payment option can be presented across desktop and mobile checkout flows as well as integrated into certain in-store point-of-sale systems when merchants enable support for BNPL at physical locations. The platform emphasizes seamless checkout UX to reduce friction for conversions. Business model and revenue Sezzle’s revenue is principally derived from merchant fees charged when consumers use its installment product, and from consumer fees in specific circumstances (for example, late fees where applicable under the company’s terms). By assuming the credit risk for installment payments, Sezzle provides value to merchants in the form of higher conversion and average order value, while collecting fees to compensate for underwriting risk and operational costs. The company also derives value from merchant analytics and platform services that support merchant adoption and retention. Compliance, partnerships, and ecosystem Sezzle operates within regulated payments and consumer-finance frameworks and works with payment processors, banks, and merchant partners to deliver its service. The company typically emphasizes partnerships with commerce platforms and payment gateways to increase distribution. As a payments provider, Sezzle implements compliance controls, identity verification, and data-protection measures consistent with industry expectations for handling consumer payment information. Overall, Sezzle is a technology-driven BNPL payments provider that combines consumer-facing installment products with merchant integration and services. Its platform is intended to simultaneously expand consumer purchasing options and provide merchants with a payment alternative designed to boost conversion and sales while managing payment risk through underwriting and fraud prevention capabilities.