In BNPL news, buy now pay later boosted earnings impressively at both PayPal and Block in Q3 2022. London-headquartered Zilch crossed 3 million customers with its commerce cards strategy. New Zealand plans year-end BNPL regulations to protect consumers. While 6% of UK e-commerce transactions were BNPL last year, industry watchers see growth during the recession.
By 2026, credit cards ($87 billion) and buy now pay later ($47 billion) will be fighting furiously for UK market share. Airwallex and Atome partner to push BNPL in Asia, while BNPL transactions will reach $6.5 billion in Egypt by 2028. SME lender iwoca saw B2B BNPL transactions grow 250% in 2022, and competitor Resolve is also seeing solid growth. 20% of GenZ holiday shoppers expect to use buy now pay later installments. Thanks for joining us!
BNPL boosts PayPal and Block as installment plans weather inflation
Much is told in the financials for two point-of-sale finance giants, PayPal and Block’s Afterpay. Both released third-quarter 2022 earnings on Thursday (Nov 4), and BNPL continues to figure prominently in each payment ecosystem, showing growth, albeit not without concerns about defaults. During an earnings call with analysts, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman noted that 25 million consumers are now using its BNPL option, equating to “150 million different loans at over … 2.2 million unique merchants” with nearly $5 billion in Q3 volume, up 157% year-over-year. PYMNTS
BNPL fintech Zilch passes 3M users, reports a gross profit
Zilch, which claims to be one of the world’s first Commerce Cards, recently announced it surpassed the 3 million customer milestone. Zilch’s D2C approach continues to outperform the market showing robust customer engagement and unit economics. It generates ad revenue each time its customers spend, which it passes on through free credit, savings, deals and discounts, resulting in record-breaking customer growth and a profitable product proposition. Crowdfund Insider
New Zealand to impose regulation on Buy Now Pay Later providers
NZ plans to require buy-now, pay-later product providers to conduct an affordability check on customers before agreeing to a loan. The government is proposing credit checks should apply for loans above NZ$600 ($350), meaning borrowers will receive the same protections as those seeking credit cards and personal loans. The government said that smaller loans would not have to go through the same process, but credit reporting would need to occur. Bloomberg
Cost of living crisis set to shake up BNPL for UK consumers and businesses
British buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms are capitalizing on consumers and small businesses in the UK seeking more flexible and interest-free payments during the economic downturn. Consumer interest remains strong: BNPL accounted for 6% of e-commerce transactions in the UK last year, per FIS. And even though total consumer spending will likely contract during a downturn, it may lead more consumers to use BNPL when they do spend to avoid interest-bearing credit products. Insider Intelligence
Can the BNPL market topple the credit card market?
BNPL firms are looking to muscle in on credit card firms’ space by launching eye-catching credit card-type rewards schemes such as those offered by Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna. Klarna embeds its BNPL offer into a physical Visa card, and UK credit card firm Tymit targets potential BNPL users by offering three months interest-free on any purchase. But do experts think that BNPL can ever dethrone the credit card market? GlobalData predicts by 2026, the UK credit card market will reach $87 billion in the value of transactions while BNPL will reach $47 billion. Fintech Times
Airwallex enables merchants to accept Buy Now Pay Later payment option through partnership with Atome
Airwallex announced a Buy Now Pay Later functionality in partnership with Atome, Asia’s leading BNPL brand. The collaboration will enable Airwallex merchants to offer BNPL as a payment option to shoppers across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The partnership is Airwallex’s first tie-up with a BNPL provider, allowing merchants to increase their revenues while diversifying their payment options through flexible deferred payment options. BusinessWire
Egypt Buy Now Pay Later Business and Investment Opportunities Report 2022
BNPL payments in the country should grow by 93.6% annually to reach $875.4 million in 2022. The medium to long-term growth story of the BNPL industry remains strong. BNPL payment adoption is expected to grow steadily over the forecast period, recording a CAGR of 39.7% during 2022-2028. The BNPL Gross Merchandise Value in the country will increase from $452.1 million in 2021 to $6,515.9 million by 2028. PRNewswire
iwoca sees B2B buy now, pay later growth near 250% for 2022
SME lender iwoca has seen a significant uptick in usage of its iwocaPay buy now, pay later platform in 2022, with average MoM transaction growth of 15% over the last year. In total, iwocaPay is up 246% in terms of the number of transactions between November 2022 and the same period in 2021. iwocaPay is available to all limited companies and sole traders in the UK for invoices between £150 and £15,000. AltFI
Fifth of Gen Z will use buy now pay later services this Black Friday
Despite concerns around rising inflation, three-quarters of Generation Z still plan to spend money this Black Friday – up 10% from the 67% who said they shopped last year. One-fifth of young Americans say they will pay for their Black Friday purchases with a BNPL service, while a further 15% will rely on store credit, according to a new study from the student discount provider. Previous research found that a third of Gen Z had previously used a BNPL service. Retail Technology Innovation Hub
Power of Payments Ep. 17: Breaking down B2B BNPL with Resolve’s Chris Tsai
Chris Tsai, co-founder and CEO at Resolve, talks about how Resolve’s product compares to that of consumer BNPL providers, how macroeconomic challenges affect firms in the space, and where B2B BNPL is headed in the future. Resolve is a B2B payments firm that offers a BNPL solution for business purchases. It allows merchants to extend net terms to their business customers by taking care of credit checks, invoice financing, and accounts receivable processes. Tearsheet
4 in 10 consumers plan to use ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ for holiday purchases, should you?
In a recent Bluedot survey, 40% of respondents said they plan to use a BNPL plan to cover holiday purchases. But is that a smart idea? Paying for holiday purchases with a BNPL plan makes sense if you know you can afford the payments involved and if you’re sure you have a pile of cash coming your way soon. On the other hand, if you’re not sure you understand the terms of the BNPL plan you’re looking at, don’t sign up. Motley Fool
Recent BNPL news:
BNPL Report – Nov 1: ACI PayAfter, Uplift, MintPay, UniCash, S’pore & AUS BNPL regs, more…