Klarna partnered with Qatar Airways, bringing installment plans to checkout for the gulf state airline in 17 European markets. The winning formula for BNPL platforms may be strategic partnerships with airlines without a branded credit card live in certain markets. Qatar holds a branded credit card offering in the US, where it likely encourages US consumers to spend on its card. European consumers, on the other hand, can’t access that credit product, giving Klarna an opportunity to fill that gap for fliers. With this vacuum, BNPL providers can reap the benefit of not having to directly compete against credit cards’ rewards packages.

Klarna and Splitit are pursuing AI initiatives to keep their products top-of-mind for consumers, per press releases. Klarna partnered with Google Cloud to power AI-backed hyperpersonalized marketing campaigns. Splitit debuted its Agentic Commerce Partner Program, bringing card-linked buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans to agent-powered shopping. Replacing human created art with AI generated images is a risky play for marketing, but Splitit’s BNPL angle with agentic commerce may help it establish a foothold in the installment plan arena, especially when tied to shoppers’ preferred cards that they trust and earn rewards.

BNPL payment value and user growth will decelerate in the coming years as the industry matures. But BNPL providers still have a big opportunity to grow their share of retail sales.​

Nuvei partnered with Early Warning Services so merchants can integrate Paze into their checkout experiences.Wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and PayPal should be on notice as Paze becomes a more capable competitor. Paze may finally be able to take a bigger bite out of PayPal and Apple Pay’s market share as its merchant adoption rises. The rise of Paze won’t come easily: Over 60% of US adults already use at least one mobile wallet, per our forecast.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss why the new funnel begins at checkout, what kinds of offers customers are most receptive to when getting ready to click the buy button, and how to avoid showing someone something they already have. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Senior Vice President of Solutions and Operations at Rokt Jon Humphrey. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

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