The “it” way to buy now is to pay later. As in “buy now, pay later.” Call it BNPL for short.
No proof needed of the concept’s raging global success, resuscitating as it did quaint installment plans once offered by the likes of Montgomery Ward. In fact, BNPL is offered today by that venerable catalog retailer in its eCommerce incarnation.
Add Walmart, PayPal and a list of today’s tech-centric heavy-hitters to that list as BNPL expands from a novelty to a mainstream payment and budget management tool for millions.
As regards PYMNTS January 2021 Provider Ranking of Alternative Credit Apps, we find power players reinforcing chart positions with all manner of moves to extend BNPL’s popularity.
The Top 5
They say, “no news is good news.” As a news organization we simply loathe that phrase. Still, it does have its place, like when describing the lack of action at the tip-top of PYMNTS first Provider Ranking of Alternative Credit Apps of the new year.
Remaining at No. 1 is Swedish sensation Klarna, followed by the exact same procession as last month. That means U.S.-based QuadPay holds at No. 2, with Affirm steady at No. 3 in the wake of its successful IPO, BNPL trendsetter Afterpay keeping at No. 4, and the Sezzle app at No. 5.
The Top 10
Finally, some news.
Moving into the bottom half of the Top 10 the first change is the PayPal-backed Paidy app rising one spot to grab No. 6, pushing the Zip Pay loan app down one to No. 7. Rising two chart positions to grab No. 8 is the LayBuy financing app, with Futurepay dropping one spot to No. 9, likewise with the Humm app falling one spot to No. 10, and completing this Provider Ranking.
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