Alternative Credit Apps Ranked For April

Alternative credit is as hot as it gets, with various players raising astronomical sums from investors and opening up vast new markets. In the latest updates of PYMNTS’ Provider Ranking of Alternative Credit Apps, we see the major players holding fast to their top 10 slots.

The Top Five

An absence of movement is not a lack of activity, as the April ranking shows. Keeping its throne at No. 1 is Klarna, with its recent investment by Ant Financial. We find the rest of the top five unchanged from March: FuturePay (No. 2), Affirm (No. 3), Afterpay (No. 4) and QuadPay (No. 5).

April Movers and Shakers

Change is in the air for some alt-credit players, albeit not in the top five spots. The “Movers & Shakers” index, showing some of the point totals used to calculate overall rankings and scores, notes that three buy now, pay later (BNPL) brands gained ground in April: Laybuy, Affirm and Sezzle all added points in the latest Provider Ranking of alternative credit companies.

Meanwhile, three prominent BNPL brands – Humm, LazyPay and Paidy – all experienced one-point drops since the last ranking numbers were calculated in March. Like other budget-conscious concepts, BNPL has advantages in a depressed economy, but with sales of apparel and accessories down sharply in the first half of the year, full impacts won’t be known for some time.