Daniel Saks
Chief Executive Officer
The Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) revolution is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. The global market is projected to reach $560.1 billion in 2025, growing 13.7% year-over-year, with user adoption racing toward 900 million by 2027. Fueled by younger consumers seeking interest-free installments and merchants seeing significant basket size increases, BNPL has transformed from a retail payment option into an essential financial service spanning healthcare, travel, automotive, and beyond.
For companies looking to engage with this booming sector—whether as potential partners, service providers, or competitors— identifying the right stakeholders is critical. Landbase's AI-driven audience discovery enables B2B teams to pinpoint prospects within these high-growth BNPL companies instantly. Whether you're targeting newly appointed C-suite executives, recently funded startups, or companies expanding into new markets, Landbase's agentic AI can build qualified lists using plain-English prompts like "CEOs of BNPL fintech startups that raised funding in the last 6 months."
Affirm has established itself as the fastest-growing major BNPL provider by revenue, offering transparent, interest-free installment payments for consumers and powerful merchant solutions. Founded by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, the company leverages machine learning-powered real-time underwriting at checkout and has expanded beyond retail with its Affirm Card that enables BNPL at any merchant, not just partners.
Klarna is the world's largest BNPL provider by merchant network, offering a comprehensive shopping ecosystem that goes beyond payments. The Swedish company provides price-drop notifications, rewards programs, and product discovery features through its app, while its AI-powered platform delivers personalized repayment plans. Klarna is anticipated to complete its NYSE IPO in 2025, which would validate its transformation from payment method to shopping destination.
Afterpay pioneered the "Pay in 4" BNPL model and has evolved into a strategic component of Block's financial ecosystem. The Australian-founded company now integrates seamlessly with Cash App's 57 million users and has launched the Afterpay Card that extends BNPL capabilities to any merchant accepting Visa. This ecosystem approach has enabled Afterpay to maintain strong growth despite market maturity.
Sunbit has carved out a dominant position in the essential services BNPL market, focusing specifically on healthcare, auto repair, and veterinary services. Unlike traditional BNPL providers that focus on discretionary retail purchases, Sunbit addresses unexpected expenses in critical service categories. The company partners with over 7,300 healthcare providers and maintains a 90% approval rate, targeting underserved credit segments.
PayPal leverages its massive 400 million user base to offer BNPL through its "Pay in 4" service, providing instant distribution that standalone BNPL providers cannot match. The service is merchant-subsidized and consumer fee-free, available in 200+ markets globally. PayPal has optimized its BNPL business model by selling $7 billion in US BNPL receivables to Blue Owl Capital, demonstrating sophisticated financial engineering.
Tabby has established itself as the leading BNPL provider in the MENA region, operating in one of the world's fastest-growing BNPL markets (20%+ CAGR). The Dubai-based company offers a comprehensive ecosystem including the Tabby Card with 1% cashback and Tabby Shop, a proprietary marketplace with 2 million+ products from partner merchants. Tabby achieved unicorn status in just 4 years since founding.
Tamara has established itself as the first SAMA-licensed BNPL provider in Saudi Arabia, giving it a significant regulatory advantage in the MENA region. The Riyadh-based company achieved unicorn status in just 3 years and has demonstrated explosive early growth with 180% month-on-month user growth in 2021. Tamara is now expanding beyond MENA into European luxury and lifestyle retail.
Scalapay has emerged as a leading BNPL provider in Southern Europe, delivering exceptional merchant value through proven ROI metrics. The Milan-based company focuses on delivering measurable business impact for retailers, with data showing 48% increases in basket size and 11% boosts in conversion rates. Scalapay's explosive brand awareness growth is reflected in its 9,600% search growth over 5 years.
Addi dominates the Latin American BNPL market, operating in one of the world's fastest-growing regional BNPL markets (20%+ CAGR). The Bogota-based company delivers exceptional merchant value with 3x average cart size increases and 20% sales increases for partner brands. Addi's recent funding from Goldman Sachs and Singapore's GIC signals strong institutional confidence in its LATAM strategy.
Sezzle stands out as the only BNPL Public Benefit Corporation, emphasizing responsible lending and financial empowerment alongside profitability. The Minneapolis-based company offers Sezzle Up, a credit-building feature that reports to all three credit bureaus and helps users improve their credit scores by an average of 20 points. Sezzle has expanded beyond the US into Canada and Brazil.
Zip has successfully diversified beyond traditional retail BNPL into high-growth sectors like education, travel, and other high-ticket verticals. The Sydney-based company maintains partnerships with major retailers including Apple, Amazon, and Walmart while expanding into new markets that require more sophisticated financing solutions. Zip's mobile-first experience provides industry-leading app functionality for frictionless payments.
Fundiin has established itself as the leading BNPL provider in Vietnam, holding the unique position as Shopify's only BNPL provider in the country. The Ho Chi Minh City-based company demonstrates explosive market penetration with 7,900% search growth over 5 years and delivers strong merchant value with 30% revenue increases and 1.8x average order value improvements.
The BNPL sector has evolved from a simple retail payment option into a sophisticated financial services category spanning multiple verticals and geographies. Key trends driving this transformation include:
For B2B companies looking to engage with this dynamic sector, Landbase's agentic AI provides the audience intelligence needed to identify the right prospects at the right time. Whether you're targeting recently funded startups, newly appointed executives, or companies expanding into new markets, Landbase's 1,500+ unique signals can help you build qualified lists instantly.
This list highlights the 12 fastest-growing BNPL companies based on a comprehensive analysis of:
All companies were verified as current (2024-2025) with data sourced from reliable financial reports, company announcements, and market research.
The BNPL sector's rapid evolution requires sophisticated go-to-market strategies for B2B companies looking to engage with these high-growth fintech companies. Landbase's VibeGTM enables teams to:
By combining comprehensive data—including 300 million+ contacts and 24 million+ companies with 1,500+ unique signals— with natural-language targeting, B2B teams can build qualified audiences in seconds rather than days. This approach is essential for staying ahead in the fast-moving BNPL sector.
The BNPL sector is growing rapidly due to several key factors: increasing consumer preference for interest-free installment payments, merchants seeing significant basket size increases, expansion beyond retail into essential services like healthcare (20.4% CAGR), and geographic expansion into high-growth emerging markets like MENA (20%+ CAGR). The global market is projected to reach $560.1 billion in 2025.
BNPL companies primarily generate revenue through merchant fees ranging from 2-8% per transaction, depending on the provider and market. Affirm charges 2-8% per transaction, Klarna charges 2.49-5.99%, and Afterpay charges a $0.30 fee and 4-6% commission per transaction. Some companies like PayPal subsidize BNPL costs through their broader ecosystem, while specialized providers like Sunbit use a merchant-paid model focused on essential services.
Regulatory challenges vary significantly by region. Tamara became the first SAMA-licensed BNPL provider in Saudi Arabia, demonstrating the importance of regulatory compliance in certain markets. In the US, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reports that 21% of consumers with credit records used BNPL in 2022, leading to increased regulatory scrutiny. Companies like Sezzle address consumer protection concerns by operating as a Public Benefit Corporation and offering credit-building features that report to all three bureaus.
AI plays a crucial role in BNPL platforms through machine learning-powered real-time underwriting. Affirm uses machine learning for real-time underwriting at checkout, while Klarna launched an AI-powered platform in February 2024 for personalized repayment plans. These AI systems analyze hundreds of data points to make instant credit decisions while minimizing risk. For B2B companies targeting AI-powered fintech, Landbase's GTM-2 Omni can help identify companies with sophisticated AI underwriting capabilities.
True "no credit check" BNPL is available through card-linked models like Splitit, which uses existing credit cards rather than creating new credit relationships, eliminating the need for additional credit checks. However, most traditional BNPL providers do perform soft credit checks that don't impact credit scores. Sunbit maintains a 90% approval rate by targeting underserved credit segments, while Sezzle offers Sezzle Up that helps users build credit through responsible usage.
Ideal partners for BNPL fintech include e-commerce platforms (like Shopify, which partnered with Fundiin as its only BNPL provider in Vietnam), super apps (like Gojek, which integrated with Kredivo), financial ecosystems (like Block, which acquired Afterpay for $29 billion), and payment networks (like Visa and Mastercard, which partnered with Splitit). Companies looking to identify these partnership opportunities can use Landbase Intelligence to track strategic partnerships and ecosystem integrations.
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