Ally Bank survey shows BNPL use doubled from August to December. The New York Times wonders if consumers will suffer buy now, regret later on installment loans. Adobe Analytics said BNPL orders doubled during Black Friday holiday sales. 37% of back-to-school shoppers used BNPL, according to TransUnion.
Worldline partnered with Fly Now Pay Later and Splitit to increase BNPL options for its merchants. Cashfree Payments in India now provides a BNPL suite with 30 options for payments for its 20,000+ e-commerce sellers. Bankful added Sezzle installment payment services for its merchants, and kid’s clothing retailer Sparkle In Pink talked about traffic and sales with Sezzle.
In a year marked by inflation, ‘buy now, pay later’ is the hottest holiday trend
The number of “buy now, pay later” loans grew more than tenfold during the pandemic, a US govt study shows, from almost 17 million in 2019 to 180 million in 2021. This month, an Ally Bank survey found twice as many people using “buy now, pay later” than they did just in August. Harvard researchers estimated that 15% of the US population had tried BNPL at least once — a number that has grown since then. Some surveys of shoppers put the number much higher, topping 50% or 60%. NPR
Buy Now, Regret Later?
Companies in the “buy now, pay later” business have one message for consumers and a very different one for Wall Street and retailers. They tell consumers that BNPL is a safe, responsible way to shop. Meanwhile, they tell investors and retailers that BNPL is a good way to get people to spend more. Can both things be true? I’m not sure. 28% of Americans said in August that they had used BNPL, up from 18% in January. New York Times
BNPL is having a banner holiday season. But can healthy performance now transform itself into a strong later?
According to Adobe Analytics, orders made via buy now, pay later (BNPL) increased 85% over Cyber Five. “It’s a win-win for retailers” as it increases basket size and boosts conversion rates, our analyst Grace Broadbent said on the “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. Buy now, why now? Shoppers, especially younger ones, are cash-strapped this holiday season. By 2026, close to 40% of US internet users will be buying now and paying later. Insider Intelligence
Americans relied on buy-now-pay-later more this year as inflation rose
As inflation crushed budgets in 2022, Americans turned to buy-now-pay-later financing for the biggest shopping seasons of the year. An Ally Bank survey showed that twice the number of Americans used BNPL services in December compared to just four months ago. TransUnion research earlier this year found 37% of Americans leaned on BNPL for the other big shopping event of the year — back-to-school shopping — up from just 2% in 2021. Yahoo! News
Cashfree Payments launches BNPL suite
Indian online businesses will be able to provide customers with more than 30 flexible financing options at checkout by leveraging Cashfree Payments’ BNPL suite. The company’s financing options include brands like ZestMoney, Homecredit and KreditBee for Cardless EMI, Simpl, LazyPay and Freecharge for Pay Later mode and over 16 banks for card-based EMIs. More than 20,000 online businesses leverage Cashfree Payments’ BNPL suite. The Paypers
Bankful merchants can now offer consumers BNPL Option
Payment gateway Bankful and buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Sezzle have partnered to enable Bankful’s merchants to offer their customers the option of paying in monthly installments. Bankful, previously known as Pinwheel, integrates with major eCommerce platforms like Shopify, Square, Wix and WooCommerce to simplify the transaction process. Sezzle serves over 48,700 brands, including GameStop, Bass Pro Shop, Target, Touch of Modern and Shop Adorn. PYMNTS
Worldline unveils BNPL service with Fly Now Pay Later
Payments company Worldline has teamed up with travel fintech Fly Now Pay Later to launch a buy now, pay later service for the travel sector. The BNPL service is available for merchants connected to TravelHub, Worldline’s payment technology for travel merchants. It offers more than 150 payment methods and currencies, multi-acquiring, tokenization and a range of fraud prevention services. It is available via a single integration with single reporting and settlement. The Fintech Times
Worldline adds Splitit as a BNPL option for merchants
Global processor Worldline SA will make Splitit, a white-label buy now, pay later provider, available to its merchants and marketplaces, beginning in North America. A consumer’s existing credit funds Splitit’s BNPL service and transactions on their payment card at checkout. Splitit does not originate new loans when consumers make a purchase. Any consumer with available credit on a credit card is automatically prequalified to use Splitit for the value of that available credit Digital Transactions
Buy now pay later shines for kid’s clothing retailer Sparkle In Pink
Buy now, pay later is a necessity, even when producing and selling affordable children’s fashion. That message came through loud and clear from Braden Larsen, IT lead at direct-to-consumer (D2C) children’s apparel marketplace Sparkle In Pink and Sezzle CEO Charlie Youakim. Larsen views BNPL through the lens of an e-commerce merchant with a budget-conscious base, noting that customers shopping for quality kid’s clothes at low prices feel empowered by BNPL. PYMNTS
Recent BNPL report news:
BNPL Report – Dec 14: B2B, Walmart, Black Friday, BNPL problems, UK, India, Mexico, Pharma
BNPL Report – Dec 7: Splitit-Google, Grab, Curve, Galileo, MENA, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore