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Affirm teams up with JPMorgan to expand BNPL reach: The partnership will help the fintech keep pace with Klarna and capitalize on growing demand for flexible payment options.

The partnership will help Affirm compete with rival Klarna, which already has a large European presence

BNPL credit reporting has been hotly debated, but Affirm argues it will help consumers build credit

CVS puts Novo Nordisk鈥檚 Wegovy (not Lilly鈥檚 Zepbound) on commercial drug formularies: Market reaction to the decision affirms how much influence PBMs like CVS Caremark have over prescription drug access. Eli Lilly may need to explore creative pricing strategies to improve access to Zepbound.

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

Sezzle faces an uphill battle competing against larger players like Affirm and Klarna

With Affirm reporting loans to TransUnion, eagerness to mirror traditional credit providers may build from within the fintech space鈥攔ather than from outside pressures.

For example, Affirm partnered with Tekmetric in August, bringing its BNPL solution to auto repair businesses.

One way they can do this is by following Affirm鈥檚 lead and begin credit reporting: Affirm announced earlier this month that it would report its pay-over-time products to Experian, with plans to expand to other credit reporting agencies in the future.

In-store payments provide a new growth avenue for BNPL providers facing slower industrywide volume growth

They could also work with FIS, which recently teamed up with Affirm to bring the fintech鈥檚 BNPL solution to its bank partners.

In the past year, Apple Pay partnered with Affirm and Klarna. Google Wallet also recently added Afterpay and Klarna, building on its tie-ups with Affirm and Zip. Delinquencies will remain low. Structural repayment differences will keep BNPL default rates lower than those of credit cards. Most BNPL providers require automatic repayments, helping keep rates low.

The Gen Z BNPL debt trap has yet to materialize: Credit card delinquency rates are higher than those at BNPL leader Affirm, for example. Payment providers have opportunities to spur Gen Z鈥檚 debit, credit, and BNPL usage. They can boost debit usage by adding more financial management features into payment and banking apps. Prioritizing rewards and payment flexibility could encourage credit card usage.

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鈥� leading competitive threat鈥攃ontributing 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鈥檛 follow through. What this means: We forecast that 43.2 million US consumers used Klarna last year鈥攎aking 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.