Fiserv will let merchant clients using Carat offer Affirm to their customers as demand for BNPL intensifies.

After doubling its transaction volume in its fiscal Q3, Affirm wants to focus on turning a profit.

Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, and Zip have until March 1, 2022, to respond to the consumer watchdog’s inquiry.

The CFPB’s inquiry into the BNPL lending practices of Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, and Zip covers the gamut. In addition to seeking insight on customer creditworthiness, underwriting, and credit reporting issues, the agency aims to understand how these providers handle late fees and debt collection, as well as how they harvest customer data and why they use it.

Top pain points for healthcare consumers include difficulty acquiring and paying cost estimates for care, per Experian. We explore how companies are investing in BNPL to meet patients’ needs.

U.S. Bank follows early success with BNPL updates: It’s rolling out its ExtendPay product to business customers and looks well-positioned to take market share from nonbank BNPL players.

Players like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna have dominated the space, but that may change as payments titans like Mastercard and Visa quickly build out their own BNPL programs. Even though these providers can use Mastercard Installments to access Mastercard’s payments rails and scale merchant acceptance, the card network’s presence increases competitive pressures by making it harder to stand out.

Payments are set to break physical and digital borders in 2022. Innovations will make payments accessible across regions; super apps will address consumers’ financial needs all in one place; and lending will extend credit to once-inaccessible segments.

The two firms can help each other relieve competitive pressures in their respective industries.

Delta already offers its customers BNPL through Affirm, so some Amex cardholders may have opted to pay with Affirm instead of using a card. Adding Plan It at checkout may help Amex recapture some of that volume—cardholders might be more likely to opt for Plan It to earn credit card rewards. It may also help tighten the issuer’s relationship with Delta.

Afterpay’s deal with EyeBuyDirect and Sezzle’s tie-up with WellNow Urgent Care reflect BNPL’s push to diversify beyond retail.

As buy now, pay later becomes a common consumer practice, Klarna has its sights set on expanding its services beyond online commerce. Hear from Klarna’s CMO about how its payment platform has turned into a growth partner for merchants and retailers.

The news: The global payments technology provider launched ACI PayAfter, a solution that lets merchants globally provide customers access to more than 70 buy now, pay later (BNPL) options, including giants like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm, via a single integration, per a press release.

The discount retailer launched bank accounts and debit cards with Incomm Payments, a BNPL pilot with Sezzle, and a rewards redemption program with FIS.

Smaller banks are cool toward BNPL: A survey finds that most have scant to zero interest in entering buy now, pay later (BNPL). Those that expressed interest want to partner instead of going solo.

A PYMNTS survey shows that most users of standalone BNPL services are interested in bank-backed versions—including customers of the biggest standalone players.

On today's episode, we discuss how Apple's new Tap to Pay feature will disrupt the payments world. Then for "In Other News," we talk about the impact of American Express' new checking account and what will happen now that buy now, pay later firm Afterpay is integrated with Block (formerly Square). Tune in to the discussion with VP of content and head of financial services Daniel Van Dyke and our analyst Jaime Toplin.

On today's episode, we discuss how buy now, pay later (BNPL) adoption will continue to evolve and what's next for these services. We then talk about what retailers' first step into the metaverse should look like and what retailers should be doing with their avalanche of returns. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Sky Canaves.

The acquisition could give Zip a path into long-term financing and a user base boost as competition mounts and regulation looms.