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37% of US Gen Zers and 32% of millennials have used a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service to make at least one purchase recently, according to Morning Consult.

Strong volume growth and 100 million users prove the BNPL provider鈥檚 successful expansion

And now, with the launch of Apple Pay Later, it may become a fast favorite among teen buy now, pay later (BNPL) users. We forecast that the number of US Gen Z BNPL users will grow 16.1% this year to reach 26.3 million. And that number will keep growing: By 2026, BNPL users will make up over half (50.1%) of Gen Z consumers. Save the planet鈥攁nd some money.

Instead of traditional loans, they鈥檙e taking what they think is the faster, easier route: BNPL. Consumers under the age of 35 comprise 48% of BNPL users, per our forecast. By contrast, they comprise just 35% of traditional credit card holders, per a 2023 report from LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Emirati paytech Tabby secured $58M in a sign of investor confidence in the region鈥檚 BNPL market potential.

The partnership will give the BNPL provider a boost and help it better compete against rival Affirm

The company has been beefing up its BNPL capabilities ever since its exclusivity period with Affirm ended earlier this year

Shoppers get a little help from BNPL. The stat: On Cyber Monday, shoppers used buy now, pay later (BNPL) services to pay for $940 million worth of online purchases, the biggest day ever for BNPL, per Adobe Analytics. What it means: BNPL is here to stay, particularly among millennials and Gen Zers, who will represent 60 million BNPL users next year, per our June 2023 forecast.

If Cyber Five trends hint at what to expect from the rest of the holiday season, expect buy now, pay later (BNPL) to be a big hit.

CEO Jack Dorsey wants to turn the 54.9 million people we forecast will use Cash App this year into users who take advantage of Block鈥檚 full suite of consumer banking products. Cash App offers direct deposit, a debit card, a high-yield savings account, and two lending products: the buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Afterpay and Borrow.

Apple鈥檚 long-teased buy now, pay later service is finally here, but what can it bring to an already crowded table? Our analysts unpack who may use Apple Pay Later and evaluate five of its prerelease features to see how they stack up to consumer demand.

BNPL is making strides but struggling to grab a meaningful share of US retail sales. BNPL is still a small retail payments player. While 73% of US consumers said they鈥檇 heard of BNPL in 2022, just 5.8% said they鈥檇 used it at least once over a 30-day period. US BNPL value will hit $80.77 billion in 2024, per our forecast鈥攋ust 1.1% of total US retail sales. That share will tick up to only 1.5% by 2027.

These efforts will be especially important for Klarna as the BNPL boom fades, leading to slowing user growth: The number of US BNPL users will rise just 6.9% YoY in 2024, compared to 17% in 2023 and 20.5% in 2022, per our forecasts.

The tie-up can bring in a large new stream of payments volume for the BNPL player, boosting growth ahead of going public next year

While this is a win for Klarna, merchants may not want to take on the higher transaction costs that sometimes come with BNPL plans

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) will play a major role in how consumers shop this holiday season as they seek out budget-friendly ways to pay. To capture a bigger share of holiday sales, BNPL provider Klarna has introduced a new suite of tools to help bridge the digital-physical gap with AI-powered technology and shoppable media.

We forecast US Google Wallet users will total 50.94 million this year, accounting for almost 30% of all mobile wallet users. Apple Wallet users, meanwhile, will total 83.45 million in 2025鈥攁ccounting for about half of all mobile wallet users. That鈥檚 why Google Wallet also recently started supporting more types of digital passes, virtual cards, and BNPL options.

The BNPL provider embarked on a full restructure to regain growth and achieve profitability

Between buy now, pay later (BNPL) players like Affirm and mobile wallets like Cash App and PayPal, the number of fintech cards on the market is growing. Affirm Card gross merchandise volume (GMV) jumped 113% YoY in the quarter ending December 31, 2024. And the number of active Cash App cardholders increased by 1 million in 2024.