PPRO Partners with Afterpay to Offer BNPL to US Customers

PPRO, the leader in providing local payments platforms, has signed a new partnership agreement with Afterpay, extending buy now, pay later, (BNPL) services to US consumers.

Its Afterpay partnership follows its receipt of €85m (US$92.8m) in dual tranche funding to pursue growth in key markets.

The deal with Afterpay enables US, Europe, China and Hong Kong-based ecommerce merchants to sell directly to US consumers using Afterpay. 

BNPL: Transforming the US shopping experience

By partnering with BNPL provider Afterpay, PPRO is tapping into an increasingly popular mode of payment in the US. 

Per insights from Adobe, Cyber Monday 2023 saw BNPL usage soar to an all-time high, up 42.5% from the previous year. 

The figures for BNPL consumer spending are up in the US too, with US$46bn spent in BNPL transactions between January and August 2023, a 14.7% year-on-year rise.

Now, by partnering with Afterpay, PPRO can tap into a growing consumer demand for increased flexibility in how and when they pay.

In turn, facilitating BNPL leads to increased average order value for merchants, with consumers more comfortable making larger purchases knowing they can spread the cost over an extended period. 

Eelco Dettingmeijer, Chief Commercial Officer at PPRO, comments on his company’s latest partnership: “With the popularity of BNPL in the US expected to increase, offering it at checkout is a no-brainer for merchants looking to sell to US consumers. 

“Now merchants from the US, Europe, China, and Hong Kong, can tap into Afterpay’s platform and provide flexible payment options, which will attract more consumers and boost sales.”

The global BNPL landscape

Indeed, it is not just the US where BNPL has become a leading payments option for consumers. Perpetuated by a cost-of-living crisis across 2022-2023 – the effects of which still linger – BNPL is now a fintech fixture here to stay. 

The Bank of International Settlement’s (BIS’s) recent cross-country BNPL analysis highlights its growing popularity in not just the US, but also across the world's leading markets.

In fact, BNPL appears most popular in Australia and Sweden, with between 50,000-100,000 BNPL downloads per 100,000 people. 

Klarna and Afterpay lead a competitive Australian market, where BNPL is incredibly popular among consumers.

And, of course, Sweden is home to BNPL pioneer Klarna, which has now spread its tendrils across the globe via a string of smart company partnerships. Today, the Sebastian Siemiatkowski founded fintech has more than 150 million active customers and partnerships with more than 500,000 merchants across the globe. 

The likes of Klarna have expanded out of Europe into the US, where it has over 7 million active customers and competes with Afterpay for BNPL purchases.

BNPL is touching all areas of US industry, with adoption only set to grow. Most recently, Walmart announced its majority-owned BNPL business, One, would be made available across its stores for high-end items, competing with Affirm in the retail BNPL space. 

PPRO’s partnership with Afterpay takes BNPL offerings in the US to an international level, as the rate at which consumers adopt this emerging payments option shows no sign of abating. 

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