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Affirm got the lowest score, at 607. This is the second year in a row that Amex, Chase, and Citi took the top three spots in the annual survey. Why this matters: Card-linked installments are BNPL fintechs’ leading competitive threat—contributing to a drag on their growth. We forecast that US BNPL payment value will rise 15% YoY this year, compared with 20.8% YoY in 2024.

Affirm also reportedly explored a subscription service called Affirm Plus but didn’t follow through. What this means: We forecast that 43.2 million US consumers used Klarna last year—making up more than half of all US BNPL users. That means less than 1% of its US base signed up for the service, which is not a promising sign for future consumer demand.

Klarna most recently replaced Affirm as Walmart’s exclusive BNPL provider. In February, it partnered with JPMorgan Payments, making the BNPL option available to merchants using JPMorgan’s Commerce Solutions Platform. And in January, Klarna expanded its distribution partnership with Stripe across 26 countries.

Market instability as well as concerns over an economic slowdown as a result of President Trump’s tariffs are making the BNPL player pause its plans

The BNPL provider is racking up partners in a major expansion push before its now-delayed IPO

Despite being a leader in AI use, the BNPL provider said leaning on AI for customer service lowered support quality

Affirm. Afterpay. Apple. Google. J.D. Power. JPMorgan Chase. Klarna. PYMNTS.com. Zip.

Ramping up marketing spend and integrating Cash App, Afterpay, and Square should put it in a stronger position in 2025

A lot happens in a week, so every Friday we're going to analyze all the new data and provide you with some of the key takeaways. Welcome to the Friday 5. This week, Temu and Shein get a scare, consumers use buy now, pay later (BNPL) apps to discover new products, and Super Bowl viewers don’t really care about ads for AI products or services.

It scored its first US rollout with the Affirm Card in November. VFC and Mastercard One Credential also share a partner: Marqeta became the first issuer processor to offer VFC thanks to a July tie-up. Our take: While Mastercard is almost a year behind Visa in launching this type of solution, it can easily catch up. The Affirm Card is VFC’s only major US consumer card program.

The BNPL provider has made strong inroads in the US but faces steep obstacles in growing its market share

They’re still using the payment method, but some are wary the plans lead to overspending

The BNPL player’s revenues doubled in Q4 thanks to users’ more frequent purchases

he policy targets deceptive practices, requiring companies to make it as easy to cancel as it is to sign up. Opponents say it’ll increase accidental unsubscribes.

The directive from acting Director Scott Bessent throws recent payments rules like the open banking and BNPL rules into flux

BNPL providers approved 79% of applications in 2022 thanks to counteroffers for subprime borrowers

While BNPL losses remain low, consumers may be overextending themselves, making it harder for consumers to pay off their growing credit card balances

Both Affirm and Klarna partnered with Apple to get their installments in Apple Pay. The firms also made deals with Google Pay—as did Afterpay and Zip. Klarna and Affirm also teamed up with Marqeta to embed their installment offerings in payment apps that work with the issuer processor. Worldpay made Klarna a default payment option for all Worldpay merchants.

The tie-up will bring the BNPL provider to a bevy of merchants’ checkout pages—whether they like it or not

Digital wallets’ transformation into commerce enablers speeds up. We make a case for digital-only consumer credit cards. And we see a new threat that BNPL poses to credit cards.

The news: Affirm scored a long-term capital partnership with investment firm Sixth Street to fuel the company’s growth plans, per a press release. Sixth Street will purchase up to $4 billion worth of Affirm’s loans in a three-year agreement. This will let Affirm extend more than $20 billion in loans over the three-year period. Affirm has 130 investors across multiple funding models.