
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) has redefined shopping, replacing traditional credit with flexible, interest-free payments. Affirm Holdings (AFRM), established in 2012, swiftly ascended the ranks, forging pivotal alliances with retail behemoths. Affirm cemented its status in 2019 by partnering with Walmart (WMT), becoming its exclusive BNPL provider.
But the landscape just shifted. Swedish fintech Klarna has taken over, securing an exclusive BNPL deal through Walmart’s fintech arm, OnePay. Klarna, which recently announced plans to go public in the U.S., will now power Walmart’s BNPL loans both in-store and online, underwriting terms from three to 36 months while OnePay manages the customer experience.