Buy now pay later

Visa and Mastercard logged increases in holiday spending, an industry group called for increased BNPL regulation in the U.S., and more in this week's global payments roundup.

The fintech IPO drought ended this year with several large public exits by firms such as Chime, Klarna and Circle.

The Swedish financial institution has developed an open standard that allows merchants' products to be catalogued and discovered by AI agents. It was designed to complement Stripe and OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report on Pay in 4 buy now/pay later loans offered validation for an industry that has faced criticism for expanding into everyday spending, such as food delivery.

As federal watchdogs step back from regulating "Buy Now, Pay Later" loans, state authorities are stepping in. This week, the attorneys general from California and several other blue states joined the fight.

The Swedish financial technology firm issued its first stablecoin and signed a gift card distribution deal with BlackRock. Also, EMVCo is examining AI's impact on processing and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The Minneapolis-based bank launched the Split Card, a Mastercard that turns purchases into three-month installment plans, in an effort to attract younger customers.

In the company's first earnings report since going public, CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski offered what analysts called a conservative Q4 outlook while laying out its growth plans that included an expanded distribution network, increasing its long-term installment loan penetration with merchants and becoming a full-fledged neobank.

The founder and CEO of the buy now pay later giant spoke with American Banker about how agentic AI will soon revolutionize the way consumers shop, make purchases and manage their personal finances. That will be accretive for Affirm, especially in a world where agents are making payments on behalf of consumers.

Consumers' and merchants' penchant for 0% loans are boosting the buy now/pay later lender in its first fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, as gross merchandise volume hit a record.

The buy now/pay later firm, which reports earnings Thursday, has inked deals with Worldpay to expand potential borrowers and with New York Life to obtain more capital for future lending.

The legacy money transfer firm plans to launch USDPT, a coin designed to improve international payment processing. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The BNPL lender is launching a three-day shopping event that pushes 0% financing offers to draw more consumers into the app and increase sales volumes for merchants ahead of the holiday season.

Real-time cross-border payments are in demand, but lack interoperability — creating demand for Swift and Ripple to add new tech. Plus, PayPal pledges to add payment technology in the Middle East and Africa, and more international payments and fintech news.

PayPal agrees to a $7 billion BNPL loan purchase agreement with Blue Owl Capital, while Revolut, which is building a financial superapp, is looking for permission to offer more banking products. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The two BNPL giants' pay-over-time loans will now be available for in-store purchases on Apple Pay in a move to capture more sales at brick and mortar stores.

Visa is introducing a premium service to the Middle East, and Lloyds Banking says its cash protection product is showing results. Plus, Brex teams up with Doordash and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The Swedish lender best known for buy now/pay later financing in the U.S. became a public company Wednesday, five months after it delayed its IPO due to President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

Fintechs are rolling out business financing tools that are packaged as buy now/pay later and earned wage access in the hopes of capturing momentum from the budding consumer finance industries.

The bank and Chinese technology giant are speeding transaction processing for business payments, Airwallex makes a deal to bolster its payments tech and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.