Buy now pay later

Bread Financial's point-of-sale installment loans, called Bread Pay, helped drive the lender's credit sales amid a wider earnings beat.

The buy now/pay later provider and aspiring neobank submitted applications to the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to establish Klarna Bank.

Courts in Sweden told Google to pay price comparison website and Klarna subsidiary PriceRunner nearly $2 billion after the court found that Google favored its own price comparison service. PriceRunner initially sought more than $8 billion in damages.

The state would join New York in governing the up-and-coming credit product. Industry and consumer advocacy groups say there's still room for improvement.

The neobank put its multi-use card in the hands of even more consumers in the first quarter, reaching 5 million users. That has resulted in increased membership fees and average revenue per consumer compared with non-card-wielding customers.

At its first investor forum since 2023, Affirm outlined its plans for Affirm Edge, an attempt to build broader networks for its buy now/pay later loans through bank integrations.

Affirm CEO Max Levchin said that the company did not have any plans for AI-spurred layoffs despite the fact that it was using the technology more for software engineering.

Research from American Banker shows that at least a quarter of all respondents see BNPL as a credible threat to credit card revenue.

Banks are mixed in their adoption of buy now/pay later and installment lending, according to American Banker research. Those that offer or are planning to offer it say that the primary motivating factor is to stay competitive.

American Banker research finds that while more than 30% agree buy now/pay later is good for banks and consumers, the majority of respondents are unconvinced.

Hokodo, a British business-to-business buy now/pay later fintech, has shut down after eight years. Its closure offers important lessons about the future of the concept.

American Banker's BNPL Tradeoff Survey finds risk and regulatory fears are leading many banks and credit unions to hold off on offering the lending product.

Banks that don't offer buy now/pay later risk pushing customers — especially younger ones — into fintechs' arms.

Stripe has expanded its Shared Payment Tokens, a foundational building block to protect agentic commerce, to work with Visa and Mastercard's tokens. It's also added Affirm and Klarna.

By acquiring the ATM firm, Brink's hopes to expand in retail commerce. Plus, Revolut issues a card to compete with Amex; Standard Chartered has a new payments chief; and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

Critics say more regs for BNPL are overkill, but proponents hope the state rule will be a framework for other states.

Shares of the neobank plummeted nearly 30% Thursday despite posting revenue over $1 billion as investors balked at up-front loan provision expenses that come with the expansion of Klarna's longer-term installment loans.

Block's merchant unit is deploying a virtual assistant to sweeten its offer to merchants, while Amazon pushes Pay by Bank. Plus, Zelle reaches a milestone and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

CEO Max Levchin said the lender is testing technology that allows merchants to perform more advanced testing of promotional financing offers.

The search giant has added Klarna to its growing list of companies that are supporting standards for agentic commerce. Also, Payoneer has added Indonesia and Mexico to its collections network and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.