From Checkout to Credit: BNPL and the New Interface of Competition

Buy Now Pay Later (“BNPL”) has introduced a new form of rivalry in consumer credit by embedding lending directly into digital payment flows. Rather than competing with banks across the full range of credit products, BNPL providers compete at the point of sale, where merchant integration, interface visibility, and transaction-level data can matter as much as traditional credit terms. This has lowered some barriers to entry and expanded access to short-term, transaction-based credit. However,