Buy Now Pay Later Business and Investment Opportunities Databook - 90+ KPIs on BNPL Market Size, End-Use Sectors, Market Share, Product Analysis, Business Model, Demographics - Q1 2026 Update

Key Trends and Drivers

BNPL providers are shifting toward regulated credit frameworks

• Across major markets, BNPL activity is moving closer to formal consumer-credit regimes. Regulators in the UK, EU, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the US have advanced proposals or supervisory actions since late 2024 to tighten disclosure requirements, affordability checks, and dispute-resolution requirements.
• The UK Treasury’s proposed BNPL regulation (2024) includes mandatory creditworthiness assessment and FCA supervision. EU authorities (2024-2025) have clarified that short-term instalment products may fall under the Consumer Credit Directive II depending on cost structures. Australian Treasury (2024) confirmed that BNPL will be regulated under the National Consumer Credit Act with scaled obligations. SAMA (Saudi Arabia) progressed BNPL licensing requirements through 2024.
• Increasing BNPL adoption among younger and subprime consumers, rising merchant reliance on instalment plans for conversions, and concerns about repayment stress have prompted regulators to align BNPL more closely with credit. Public consultations and parliamentary discussions in the UK, the EU, and Australia in 2024-2025 underline the push for consistent consumer protection standards.
• Regulatory convergence will likely raise compliance costs but favour larger, well-capitalised providers such as Klarna, PayPal, Affirm, Afterpay, and regulated credit institutions entering instalments. This may lead to consolidation among smaller players and to gradual harmonisation of credit checks, fee transparency, and data reporting across markets.

Banks and card networks are scaling “card-linked instalments” as BNPL alternatives

• Banks and card networks have accelerated “post-purchase” or “embedded card instalment” offerings that mirror BNPL, integrated directly into debit and credit cards. Visa and Mastercard expanded instalment APIs globally through 2024-2025, with issuers in the US, Europe, India and Southeast Asia enabling “tap-to-pay in instalments.” Large banks (e.g., Capital One US, HSBC Asia, Santander Europe) rolled out on-card instalment products that convert purchases into structured payments.
• Issuers aim to retain relevance as BNPL diverts transaction volume away from revolving credit. Merchant acquirers and networks also seek predictable fee structures and reduced fraud exposure compared to open-loop BNPL. Banking regulators’ support for credit-linked instalments (as they fall under existing credit rules) further accelerates adoption.
• Card-linked instalments will scale in markets with high card penetration (North America, Europe, parts of Asia). BNPL providers may face competition from issuers offering cheaper instalments with built-in credit histories. However, BNPL players with strong merchant integrations will remain relevant in markets where wallets or A2A payments dominate (Brazil, India, Indonesia).

• BNPL providers are moving into non-retail categories such as utilities, rent, travel, medical payments, education and subscription services. Examples include:
• Affirm is expanding partnerships with travel platforms (e.g., Booking Holdings, Expedia) in 2024. Klarna is enabling bill payment and subscription management features across multiple markets in 2024-2025.
• PayPal Pay-in-4 and regional players in MENA and Southeast Asia are enabling bill Retail BNPL margins have compressed due to merchant-fee pressure and competition. Providers see growth in stable, recurring use cases where lending risk is more predictable, driven by steady payment flows (utilities, telecom, school fees). Consumers increasingly expect instalment flexibility for large-ticket and essential expenses amid inflationary environments.
• BNPL penetration will diversify beyond fashion, electronics and general retail. Providers with stronger underwriting models and recurring billing integrations will gain an advantage. Merchant-fee dependency will reduce as revenue sources shift toward consumer-side products (e.g., subscription management, premium credit checks). Regulatory oversight of risk may intensify as BNPL enters essential services.

BNPL is integrating more deeply into digital wallets and account-to-account (A2A) payment ecosystems

• Wallet ecosystems and instant-payment rails (e.g., India UPI, Brazil Pix, Indonesia QRIS, EU SEPA instant) increasingly support “pay later” or instalment features. Apple Pay introduced instalment capabilities across several markets in 2024. Google Pay integrated BNPL options in select geographies through partnerships. Pix-based credit products expanded significantly in Brazil in 2024-2025, driven by banks and fintechs. Southeast Asian wallets (e.g., Grab, Atome integrations, GoPay PayLater) strengthened their instalment layers in 2024.
• A2A instant payment adoption has grown rapidly, offering lower-cost rails than cards. Wallets seek to increase user stickiness and drive merchant acceptance by embedding instalment credit natively. Consumers prefer BNPL to avoid card fees, and merchants benefit from lower acceptance costs compared with traditional card-based BNPL.
• Wallet-embedded BNPL will expand in high-wallet-penetration markets (India, Brazil, Indonesia, MENA). Card-based BNPL may lose share where A2A rails offer cheaper settlement. New credit-scoring models using bank-account and payment-rail data will emerge, improving underwriting. Competition will intensify as wallets partner with banks or licensed lenders to offer compliant pay-later products.

Competitive Landscape

• The BNPL market is likely to evolve into a multi-model payments landscape in which pure-play fintechs, banks, card issuers, and payment networks all offer installment or “pay later” options as part of broader product suites. This will raise competitive intensity and blur boundaries between fintech and banking. Providers with deeper merchant networks and diversified product portfolios (cards, bank account features, payment network integrations) will hold an advantage.
• Pure-play, standalone BNPL services may be pressured to either consolidate or partner, or shift toward embedded-financing models. As regulation tightens and consumer credit assessment becomes more stringent across jurisdictions, scale and regulatory compliance capabilities will increasingly define market winners. Demand for flexibility and predictable payments, especially in markets with rising cost of living, will sustain interest in BNPL. Still, the competitive landscape will broaden significantly, making differentiation on underwriting quality, service integration, and convenience critical.

Current State of the Market

• The global BNPL ecosystem continues to expand, but is undergoing structural shifts. Traditional BNPL pure-players remain active, yet banks, card networks and fintech-adjacent payment platforms are increasingly entering the space.
• Overall, BNPL usage remains substantial in developed markets (e.g., the US and Europe), even as some tech giants' efforts to build in-house BNPL services fail, highlighting the difficulty of sustaining standalone BNPL services.
• Providers are diversifying: some now combine BNPL with debit cards, savings/deposit-account functionality or bank-like services, blurring the line between BNPL fintechs and traditional banking.

Key Players and New Entrants

• Among the established pure-play BNPL firms, Klarna and Affirm remain dominant globally. Affirm continues to offer point-of-sale loans and virtual and physical cards, and is expanding its integrations with merchants and banking partners. Newer entrants and alternative models are emerging: for example, Splitit launched “FI-PayLater” in 2024, enabling banks and existing card issuers to embed installment-payment capabilities for their customers.
• At the same time, payment networks and card issuers (through “card-linked installments” or credit-card instalment plans) are actively challenging pure-BNPL firms, aiming to reclaim transaction volume by offering structured payments built on existing credit infrastructure.

Recent Launches, Mergers, and Acquisitions

• In 2024, the tech giant Apple shut down its in-house BNPL product, Apple Pay Later, barely a year after launch, reportedly opting instead to partner with established BNPL providers like Klarna and Affirm. Splitit’s 2024 rollout of FI-PayLater marked a deliberate move to empower banking institutions and incumbents with BNPL-like capability, a sign that the competitive landscape is layering BNPL onto traditional banking rails.
• On the fintech front, core players continue to expand service lines: Affirm maintains active cardholder growth and merchant acquisitions, while Klarna in 2025 reported improved delinquency and on-time payment metrics, indicating operational stabilization and scaling.

This is a bundled offering, combining the following 21 reports, covering 1,200+ tables and 1,700+ figures for the Buy Now Pay Later Market:

Report Scope

Global Retail Industry & Ecommerce Market Size and Forecast

• Retail Industry - Spend Value Trend Analysis
• Buy Now Pay Later Share of Retail Industry
• Ecommerce - Spend Value Trend Analysis
• Buy Now Pay Later Share of Ecommerce

Global Buy Now Pay Later Market Size and Industry Attractiveness

• Gross Merchandise Value Trend Analysis
• Average Value Per Transaction Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Market Share Analysis by Key Players

Global Buy Now Pay Later Revenue Analysis

• Buy Now Pay Later Revenues
• Buy Now Pay Later Share by Revenue Segments
• Buy Now Pay Later Revenue by Merchant Commission
• Buy Now Pay Later Revenue by Missed Payment Fee Revenue
• Buy Now Pay Later Revenue by Pay Now & Other Income

Global Buy Now Pay Later Operational KPIs

• Buy Now Pay Later Active Consumer Base
• Buy Now Pay Later Bad Debt

Global Buy Now Pay Later Spend Analysis by Business Model

• Two-Party Business Model
• Third-Party Business Model

Global Buy Now Pay Later Spend Analysis by Purpose

• Convenience
• Credit

Global Buy Now Pay Later Spend Analysis by Merchant Ecosystem

• Open Loop System
• Closed Loop System

Global Buy Now Pay Later Spend Analysis by Distribution Model

• Standalone
• Banks & Payment Service Providers
• Marketplaces

Global Buy Now Pay Later Spend Analysis by Channel

• Online Channel
• POS Channel

Global Buy Now Pay Later By End-Use Sector: Market Size and Forecast

• Retail Shopping
• Home Improvement
• Travel
• Media and Entertainment
• Services
• Automotive
• Health Care and Wellness
• Others

Global Buy Now Pay Later By Retail Product Category: Market Size and Forecast

• Apparel, Footwear & Accessories
• Consumer Electronics
• Toys, Kids, and Babies
• Jewelry
• Sporting Goods
• Entertainment & Gaming
• Other

Global Buy Now Pay Later Analysis by Consumer Attitude and Behaviour

• Spend Share by Age Group
• Spend Share by Default Rate by Age Group
• Spend Share by Income
• Gross Merchandise Value Share by Gender
• Adoption Rationale
• Spend by Monthly Expense Segments
• Average Number of Transactions per User Annually
• BNPL Users as a Percentage of Total Adult Population

Reasons to Buy

• Strategic and Innovation Insights: Gain clarity on the future direction of Global's Buy Now Pay Later market by analysing strategic initiatives, business model evolution, and innovation-led approaches adopted by key BNPL providers to strengthen market positioning.
• Comprehensive Understanding of BNPL Market Dynamics in Global: Assess market size, growth outlook, and structural shifts across retail and e-commerce, supported by detailed segmentation by channel, business model, distribution model, merchant ecosystem, end-use sector, and consumer demographics, underpinned by 90+ KPIs.
• Value and Volume-Based KPIs for Market Accuracy: Leverage a robust set of value and volume KPIs, including GMV, average transaction value, transaction volume, active users, revenue, and bad debt, to develop a precise understanding of BNPL adoption, usage intensity, and market maturity.
• Competitive Landscape Assessment: Obtain a clear snapshot of the BNPL competitive landscape in Global, including market share analysis of leading providers, enabling informed benchmarking and evaluation of market concentration and competitive intensity.
• Actionable Inputs for Market Entry and Expansion Strategies: Identify high-growth categories, priority end-use sectors, and distribution channels to fine-tune go-to-market and partnership strategies, while assessing key trends, regulatory considerations, and risk factors shaping the BNPL ecosystem.
• In-Depth Consumer Behaviour Analysis: Enhance ROI by understanding evolving consumer attitudes and spending behaviour, with insights into BNPL adoption drivers, usage frequency, income and age-based usage patterns, gender splits, and monthly expense segmentation.