Upbound Group, Inc. provides accessible and inclusive financial solutions that address the evolving needs and aspirations of underserved consumers.
Through its Acima and Rent-A-Center segments, the company is a lease-to-own provider with operations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The company provides a critical service for underserved consumers by providing them with access to, and the opportunity to obtain ownership of, high-quality, name brand durable products under a flexible l...
Upbound Group, Inc. provides accessible and inclusive financial solutions that address the evolving needs and aspirations of underserved consumers.
Through its Acima and Rent-A-Center segments, the company is a lease-to-own provider with operations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The company provides a critical service for underserved consumers by providing them with access to, and the opportunity to obtain ownership of, high-quality, name brand durable products under a flexible lease-purchase agreement with no long-term debt obligation.
The company’s Acima segment offers lease-to-own solutions through retailers in stores and online enabling such retailers to grow sales by expanding their customer base utilizing its differentiated offering and allowing customers to access its flexible lease-to-own solutions at thousands of retailers and to lease a wide range of durable products. Through its Rent-A-Center segment, the company provides a fully integrated customer experience through its e-commerce platform and brick and mortar presence.
On January 31, 2025, the company completed the acquisition of Brigit, a holistic financial health technology company that has helped millions of Americans budget better, access their earned wages before their regularly scheduled payday, build their credit through savings, protect themselves from identity theft, and find ways to earn and save money.
Strategy
The key elements of the company’s strategy are to leverage data analytics capabilities to attract new customers, approve more customers and mitigate risk across business segments; upgrade and integrate technology platforms to allow for a more simplified and seamless consumer experience, third-party retailer and waterfall integration and consumer transaction process and coworker efficiency; execute on market opportunities and enhances the company’s competitive position across both traditional and virtual lease-to-own solutions, and implement complementary products and services that supplement its offerings and provides its customers more financial alternatives; develop centers of excellence that will be leveraged across the organization to support its various business segments, utilizing best practices to drive efficiency and growth; grow penetration with Acima third-party retailers and builds on the company’s strength with small to medium size businesses while also adding new national and regional third-party retailers to its platform and expanding the company’s direct-to-consumer channels; and At Rent-A-Center, accelerate the shift to e-commerce, improve the fully integrated omni-channel customer experience and expand product categories, which it expects will increase brand awareness and customer loyalty.
Segments
The company operates through four segments: Rent-A-Center, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. To better reflect the company’s strategic focus, its retail partner business operations are reported as the Acima segment, which includes its virtual and staffed business models; and its company-owned stores and e-commerce platform through rentacenter.com are reported as the Rent-A-Center segment. In addition, the company reports operating results for its Mexico and Franchising segments.
Acima
The company’s Acima segment, which primarily operates in the United States and Puerto Rico, includes the operations of Acima Holdings, LLC (‘Acima Holdings’), which it acquired in 2021, and locations previously operating under its Acceptance Now brand, which completed the transition to the Acima platform in 2024. In virtual locations, customers, either directly or with the assistance of a representative of the third-party retailer, initiate the lease-to-own transaction online in the retailers' locations using the company’s virtual solutions.
The company uses a proprietary automated process to confirm certain customer information for approval of the lease purchase agreement, including certain information from consumer reporting agencies as part of its decisioning process that may constitute a ‘consumer report’ under applicable law. The company lease-to-own solutions within the Acima segment are beneficial for both the retailer and the consumer. The company believes consumers also benefit from its Acima model because they are able to obtain the products they want and need under flexible terms and without the necessity of relying on credit to finance a purchase. The company generally pay the retail price for merchandise purchased from its third-party retailers and subsequently leased to the customer. Through certain third-party retailers, the company offers its customers the option to obtain ownership of the product.
The company’s Acima operating model is highly agile, and dynamic given its virtual offerings and its ability to open and close staffed and unstaffed locations quickly and efficiently. Generally, the company’s Acima staffed locations consist of an area with a tablet computer, desk and chairs. The company occupies the space without charge by agreement with each retailer. In the company’s virtual locations, transactions are initiated through an electronic portal accessible by third-party retailers on their store computers, on its third-party retailers' e-commerce sites or through the company’s Acima direct to consumer offerings including the Acima mobile application.
Acima relies on the company’s third-party retailers to deliver merchandise leased by the customer. Such third-party retailers typically charge it a fee for delivery, which the company passes on to the customer. In the event the customer wishes to return rented merchandise and terminate their lease, the company provides various return options. Most merchandise returned from an Acima lease-to-own transaction is subsequently donated or offered for lease at one of its Rent-A-Center stores.
Rent-A-Center
The company’s Rent-A-Center segment consists of company-owned lease-to-own stores in the United States and Puerto Rico that lease durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis. The company’s Rent-A-Center segment operates through its company-owned stores and e-commerce platform through rentacenter.com. The company operates company-owned stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, including retail installment sales stores under the names ‘Get It Now’ and ‘Home Choice’. The company routinely evaluates the locations in which it operates to optimize its store network.
Mexico
The company’s Mexico segment consists of its company-owned lease-to-own stores in Mexico that lease durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis.
Franchising
Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the company (its ‘Franchising Segment’), is a franchisor of lease-to-own stores. The stores in the company’s Franchising segment uses its Rent-A-Center, ColorTyme or RimTyme trade names, service marks, trademarks and logos, and operate under distinctive operating procedures and standards. The company’s Franchising segment's primary source of revenue is the sale of rental merchandise to its franchisees, who in turn, offer the merchandise to the public for rent or purchase under a lease-to-own transaction. The balance of the company’s Franchising segment's revenue is generated primarily from royalties based on franchisees' monthly gross revenues.
The company’s franchised stores in 29 states operating under the Rent-A-Center (412 stores), ColorTyme and RimTyme trade names. These lease-to-own stores primarily offer products, such as furniture and accessories, consumer electronics, appliances, computers, wheels and tires.
Product Selection
The stores in the company Rent-A-Center, Mexico, and Franchising segments generally offer merchandise from certain basic product categories, such as furniture, including mattresses; tires; consumer electronics; appliances; tools; handbags; computers; and accessories. Although the company seeks to maintain sufficient inventory in its stores to offer customers a wide variety of models, styles and brands, the company generally limits merchandise to prescribed levels to maintain strict inventory controls. The company also provides merchandise options to its Rent-A-Center customers through its extended marketplace on its e-commerce platform.
The company’s furniture products include dining room, living room and bedroom furniture featuring a number of styles, materials and colors. Accessories include lamps and tables and are typically rented as part of a package of items, such as a complete room of furniture. Showroom displays enable customers to visualize how the product will look in their homes and provide a showcase for accessories. Appliances include refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dryers, and ranges. Consumer electronic products offered by the company’s stores include high-definition televisions, home theater systems, video game consoles and stereos. The company offers desktop, laptop, and tablet computers.
In Mexico, the appliances the company offers are sourced locally, providing its customers in Mexico the look and feel to which they are accustomed in that product category.
Acima locations offer merchandise available for sale in-store and online through third-party retailers, including furniture and accessories, consumer electronics and appliances, wheels and tires, and jewelry.
Marketing
The company promotes its products and services through direct marketing, paid and organic search optimization, digital advertisements, paid social media, radio and television commercials, and store signage. The company’s advertisements emphasize such features as product and name-brand selection, limited time offers, easy approval process, the flexible payment and return options, the ability to avoid relying on credit to finance a purchase and without requiring long-term contracts or obligations, convenient delivery and set-up, product repair and loaner services, lifetime reinstatement and multiple options to acquire ownership if desired by the customer, including early purchase pricing options or through a fixed number of lease renewal payments. In addition, in the Rent-A-Center segment, the company promotes the ‘RAC Worry-Free Guarantee’ to further highlight these aspects of the lease purchase transaction.
Seasonality
The company’s revenue mix is moderately seasonal, with the first quarter of each fiscal year generally providing higher merchandise sales than any other quarter during a fiscal year (year ended December 31, 2024). The company’s cash expenditures for its merchandise purchases for the fiscal year are generally the highest beginning in the latter part of the third quarter through the fourth quarter, primarily as a result of holiday promotions that lead to increased demand for its lease-to-own offerings.
Trademarks
The company owns various trademarks and service marks that are used in connection with its operations, including certain trademarks that have been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The Franchising segment licenses the use of the Rent-A-Center and ColorTyme trademarks and service marks to its franchisees under its franchise agreements with such franchisees. The Franchising segment also owns various trademarks and service marks, including ColorTyme and RimTyme, that are used in connection with its operations and have been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark office.
History
The company was founded in 1960. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1986. The company was formerly known as Rent-A-Center, Inc. and changed its name to Upbound Group, Inc. in 2023.