Affirm plans to launch a crypto trading feature, and Zip will support some of Adyen’s merchant partners.

The etailer will offer Affirm as a payment option for its US customers, which can sharpen Affirm’s edge against competitors and help Amazon stay ahead as BNPL services gain steam.

Affirm partnered with Shopify to give customers access to a BNPL solution, and Klarna got a $639 million cash injection to fund expansion.

Afterpay and Klarna affirm their dominance

Making these changes ahead of formal regulation could help Klarna stand out from incumbent rivals like Afterpay or Affirm and potentially lead more customers to use its products. Related content: Check out our chart report on global BNPL use and growth—and how regulation may affect the space.

Go deeper: Check out “The Buy Now, Pay Later Report” to learn more about Klarna's position in the BNPL ecosystem and growth tactics it's used to get ahead—and how all of this stacks up against competitors like Afterpay and Affirm.

Zip’s preholiday shopping event clocked stellar numbers, but diversification and increased credit card use might challenge BNPL growth.

Just 7% of US adults are very likely to use buy now, pay later (BNPL) services this holiday season.

Both card networks reported quarterly gains and could see an even bigger bump in Q4 thanks to upcoming holiday shopping and new products.

Article: Affirm, Afterpay, and Zip look to maintain momentum despite looming threats. Article: 3 things to know in the payments space.

Partnering with Billie lets Klarna’s European merchants offer B2B financing—helping it move early into a growing segment instead of vying for consumers.

On today's episode, we discuss who is using "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) services, why they're choosing them, whether banks can compete, and the dark side of these payment options. We then talk about whether Amazon's tech-fueled fitting rooms can move the needle, what early Black Friday deals from Amazon really mean, and some advertising secrets from the online shopping giant. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analysts at Insider Intelligence David Morris and Andrew Lipsman.

Digital players like Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, and PayPal lead the BNPL space. And even though Mastercard’s program could let these players use its rails, pressure from payments giants could squeeze them and make the space even more competitive, especially in the face of increasing consolidation.

That could be why more shoppers are turning to services like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay. Total BNPL spending this year (through November 27) jumped 422% versus the same period in 2019, with BNPL order volume up 438%, per Adobe Analytics. Fifty-six percent of shoppers said they have bought something using BNPL they couldn’t pay off, per a study by neobank Oxygen cited in CNBC.

In the increasingly crowded US buy now, pay later (BNPL) space, the convenience of Upgrade’s single-invoicing feature could catch consumers’ attention.

The BNPL giant will also bring the Klarna Card stateside—both payment features are already available in Europe.

Its focus on attracting large and diverse businesses cushioned revenues and volume. Now, it's looking to BNPL, cryptos, and Cash App.

Lockdowns, online shopping, and fear of germs during the pandemic have hastened the shift toward all types of digital payments. As a result, Gen Z has fully embraced electronic wallet services, contactless payments, peer-to-peer payment apps, and digital uses of credit, including buy now, pay later.

Synchrony reported a 16% YoY jump in purchase volume in Q3—partnering with Fiserv’s Clover and a new BNPL solution can sustain that growth.