Visa Inc. is launching a pilot program to test installment payments in the U.S., beginning with payments issuer Total System Services Inc. offering the option at the point-of-sale, according to a blogpost from the card company.

The pilot follows a growing trend of merchants embracing point-of-sale financing in a bid to increase average order size by allowing customers to buy bigger ticket items by spreading payments out over three or four months.

Commerce Bank will be the first bank to offer installment payments through the pilot program on a limited number of Commerce Bank Visa cards before a commercial launch this fall.

Charge After, a multi-lender consumer financing platform, is offering Visa installment payments in the U.S. with two clients, 42nd Street Photo and Tire Agent, for eligible customers. Charge After is also working with Cybersouce, a global payment management platform for Visa, to offer installment payments for Visa sellers.

The RoomPlace, a furniture retailer based in Lombard, Illinois, is also offering installment payments through the program to eligible customers.

Kibo Commerce will soon be offering installment payments through its network of sellers as well as a customized app.

Visa's U.S. launch builds on a previous launch in Russia, where Home Credit Bank issued a Visa stand-alone installment card called Svoboda. The program allowed buyers to make installment payments at a home appliance retailer called DNS located in Novosibirsk.