Buy Now Pay Later has gained immense popularity amongst merchants and consumers globally, with the Global Payments Report 2022 by FIS-Worldpay forecasting it to be the fastest-growing payment method globally, in-store and not only, between now and 2025.
While BNPL is seen as a rising global movement, even in the face of a softer macro landscape, it’s important to note that the BNPL use case and models across regions vary significantly. Asia is highly fragmented (eg. credit profile, shopping behaviour, culture, smartphone type), with a large unbanked and underbanked population, especially in emerging markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. For example, in the Southeast Asia region (SEA), only 27% of the total population of 670 million inhabitants has a bank account.
SEA is also leading the change in digital consumption, having added 60 million new digital consumers to the Internet economy since the pandemic started. Retailers partner with BNPL platforms to tap on these young and emerging digital consumers – shoppers who are mobile-first, digitally savvy, and going through pivotal life stages such as getting their first job or house, marrying or having their first child. It is estimated that by 2030, 75% of the consumers in Southeast Asia will be under the age of 30.
As BNPL matures in Asia, it has evolved from its basic model of offering interest-free monthly payments to a more end-to-end user experience that includes a wider range of deferred payment options like 6- or 12-months, greater industry adoption, social commerce, open loop card services, and broader financial products.
One of the key strengths for BNPL players is strong end-to-end understanding of user demographics and shopping behaviour that will be crucial in connecting with a community of young, aspirational, and digitally savvy consumers. For example, Atome+ drives co-branded initiatives with merchant partners to engage loyal customers with redemptions and loyalty points. Other merchant-enabler features include in-store retail staff training and brand ambassador programmes, merchant analytics dashboards, social CRM, and concierge-like membership services.
As the growing BNPL opportunity gains momentum in the coming years, the evolution of BNPL will further enable and empower merchants and create a strong and holistic ecosystem that goes beyond payment to include end-to-end user engagement and value through every facet of the consumer’s purchase journey.
Jeremy has rich experience in the areas of payment, fintech and e-commerce, as well as growing startups from "0 to 1" and beyond. Currently Jeremy is the Head of Strategic Partnership at Atome, and is responsible for leveraging the partnerships in the Southeast Asia and East Asia regions towards accelerating user and merchant growth. Before Atome, Jeremy was the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Fave leading a wide arrange of responsibilities partnerships, strategy, corporate development and other initiatives as part of Fave's growth as a "scale-up". He launched notable partnerships with Google Pay, DBS Bank and local e-wallets within the SEA market.
Atome is Asia’s leading Buy Now, Pay Later platform, partnering retailers to increase conversions and grow average orders and customer segments. It currently partners over 10,000 retailers in nine markets. For consumers, Atome offers choice, convenience, and flexibility in how they choose to shop and pay.
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