Frost Radar: Buy Now-Pay Later, 2023

A Benchmarking System to Spark Companies to Action-Innovation that Fuels New Deal Flow and Growth Pipelines

Buy now, pay later (BNPL), also referred to as point of sale (PoS) installment loans, is a short-term financing option that enables consumers to spread out payments for purchases over a period of time. The increase in eCommerce activity during the COVID-19 pandemic brought along with it a strong interest in alternative spending options. BNPL, a subsegment of the digital payments sector, affords consumers the flexibility to shop and pay in interest-free installments at certain stores. The option has been of more interest to people in the 18-44 age group.

In recent months, the BNPL industry has shown signs of slowing and is attracting more scrutiny from regulators because of its position as an alternative to the highly regulated credit card industry. Rising inflation and slowed economic growth have decreased consumers' purchasing power and, consequently, BNPL company margins, causing investor appetite to decrease in 2022.

The Frost Radar™ reveals the market positioning of companies in an industry using their Growth and Innovation scores as highlighted in the Frost Radar™ methodology. The document presents competitive profiles on each of the companies in the Frost Radar™ based on their strengths, opportunities, and a small discussion on their positioning. Frost & Sullivan analyzes numerous companies in an industry and benchmarks them across 10 criteria on the Frost Radar™, where the leading companies in the industry are then positioned.