“New research has revealed the pitfalls of unregulated Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) agreements for Christmas shoppers in Britain, with two in five users in unclear of what it is they are signing up to. The data, commissioned by Barclays, found that 36% of BNPL customers do not fully understand the consequences of missing repayments, while 52% are unaware that unregulated BNPL providers do not have to carry out robust affordability checks.”

“Credit card companies are seeking to push further into the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) market. American Express (Amex) announced today that it plans to partner with Opy, the U.S. subsidiary of Australian fintech Openpay, to allow all of its U.S. cardmembers to pay in installments for qualifying purchases in the healthcare and automotive segments. The partnership is American Express’s first third-party BNPL agreement in the United States, a spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch in an email. Amex will help onboard merchants in these sectors onto its platform.”

“Microsoft is under fire from angry users after announcing plans for a built-in “buy now pay later” function in its Edge web browser. Such schemes let buyers divide payments into smaller chunks over time – but have been criticised for their risk of users getting into debt. Microsoft has added one provider to the checkout page of shopping sites as a default payment option. But users have accused Microsoft of greed and a “cashgrab” mentality.”

“PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL ) today announced that Wix (Nasdaq: WIX ) merchants can offer PayPal Pay in 4* and PayPal Credit** through a dedicated Pay Later checkout button, as well as present Pay in 4 messaging earlier in the shopping journey. With many businesses expressing optimism this holiday season, PayPal Pay Later solutions provide Wix eCommerce merchants in the U.S. with another way to help maximize this all-important time of year.”

“With defaults on buy now, pay later loans on the rise, BNPL providers need to be cognizant that creating a flexible repayment plan can not only help improve recovery rates, but help retain delinquent customers by providing a better customer experience during the collection phase, says a study from digital debt-collection agency TrueAccord.  The latter is important, as BNPL providers are slugging it out to attract and retain new customers. Over the past 12 months, the typical BNPL customer used up to six different BNPL providers .”

“Buy now, pay later operator Zip is introducing a mobile-based virtual card, enabling UK shoppers to tap and pay for their purchases at the checkout. Following an initial launch in Australia and New Zealand, Tap and Pay with Zip is being rolled out nationwide across the UK in time for the festive shopping season, starting first in Homebase, The Fragrance Shop, Jollyes – The Pet People, and Hype clothing.”

“Afterpay (ASX:APT), the leader in “Buy Now, Pay Later” payments, today announced its subscription solution – giving U.S. consumers the ability to pay for their favorite recurring purchases in installments.  Merchants including IPSY, BoxyCharm, Savage X Fenty and Fabletics will be amongst the first to offer Afterpay’s subscription payments, which will be available to customers early next year.”

“Klarna , a leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service, today announced the addition of ‘Pay Now’ to its range of payment services in the US. This will enable consumers to pay immediately and in full at any online retailer where Klarna is available, with the same seamless payment experience whether they choose to pay now or later. Additionally, the company will also very soon introduce the Klarna Card to the US market, bringing Klarna’s popular interest-free Pay in 4 service to a physical card format.”

“Klarna , the leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service, today announced it is expanding its solutions for US consumers and retailers by offering flexible payments for subscriptions, one of the fastest growing and largest sectors of the Services economy.  The first-of-its-kind offering in the US provides consumers with a more convenient, transparent and affordable way to pay and manage quarterly and annual subscriptions, memberships, and more, by allowing them to spread their purchases into 4 interest-free payments and track everything in the Klarna app.”

“The expansion of Afterpay and other buy-now-pay-later products into pubs and restaurants could lead to bigger debts for people already struggling financially, consumer advocates warn. Concerns were raised last week after news that pub giant Australian Venue Co had partnered with buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) monolith Afterpay to roll out the facility in the 160-plus venues it operates nationally.”

“Klarna Bank , the Swedish payments company, has officially launched in the fledgling ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) market in the Republic, aiming to take advantage of the surge in online shopping that has been turbocharged by the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes four years after the fintech first signalled its interest in establishing a presence in the Republic, now its 18th market.”

“Hundreds of customers have filed complaints with agencies that report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau detailing frustrations with continued charges for returned items and surprise fees after using BNPL loans to make purchases. At the Better Business Bureau, hundreds of shoppers have complained they continued to be charged for purchases they returned or were hit with unexpected fees.”

“Zip Co. Ltd. launched the Zip Card, a physical card to complement its virtual card in the highly competitive buy now, pay later arena. The new card, to be issued by WebBank, a Salt Lake City-based industrial bank that works with brands like Dell Financial Services, CAN Capital, Klarna, Fingerhut, Shopify, and Toast, is not a credit card, Zip says.”

“larna, the leading global payments provider and shopping platform has today revealed its new all in one shopping app across Klarna markets. As the app economy grows, today consumers face an increasingly cluttered and confusing landscape of e-commerce apps – this is frustrating and time-wasting for the consumer. Klarna solves this by launching the only app consumers need.”