PayPal is taking a notable step forward in the realm of consumer financing with its recent partnership with Blue Owl Capital, a move that could significantly benefit small business owners across the United States. Announced on September 24, 2025, this two-year agreement empowers Blue Owl-managed funds to purchase approximately $7 billion of PayPal’s “Pay in 4” buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans. This collaboration aims to enhance the flexibility and accessibility of payment options for consumers, ultimately im ...

Industry Trend - More travel companies are offering installment payment options for trips [1] Potential Risk - Experts warn that installment payments can be a slippery slope [1]

Key Takeaways PayPal's BNPL volume rose over 20% in Q2 2025, with monthly active accounts up 18% year over year.A two-year deal with Blue Owl will see $7B of U.S. BNPL receivables purchased.Ace Hardware saw a 35% PayPal sales boost and 7x higher order values since adopting BNPL.PayPal Holdings’ (PYPL) Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) feature is a major growth engine. The company’s BNPL is a fast-growing payment mode allowing consumers to purchase goods online and pay for them in interest-free installments over wee ...

Core Insights - PayPal Holdings (PYPL) has announced a multi-year partnership with Google aimed at enhancing digital commerce experiences through innovative solutions for businesses and consumers [1][9] - The collaboration will focus on AI-powered shopping experiences and the development of standards for agentic commerce, leveraging PayPal's payment systems and Google's AI capabilities [2] Group 1: Partnership Details - The partnership will integrate PayPal's services, such as PayPal-branded checkout and PayPal Payouts, into various Google products, including Google Cloud, Google Ads, and Google Play [3][9] - PayPal will collaborate with Google Cloud to upgrade its technology and payment platform, enhancing the overall digital commerce landscape [3] Group 2: Market Position and Competitors - PayPal's existing partnerships with major companies like Visa, Mastercard, and Facebook demonstrate its commitment to improving payment experiences globally [4][5] - Competitors like Block Inc. and Affirm Holdings are also expanding their market presence through strategic partnerships, indicating a competitive landscape in the digital payment sector [6][7] Group 3: Financial Performance and Valuation - PayPal shares have declined 18.8% year to date, underperforming the broader industry and the S&P 500 Index [8] - The stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month P/E of 12.18X, significantly lower than the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry's average of 21.89X, suggesting a potentially undervalued position [10] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PayPal's full-year 2025 EPS indicates a positive growth trend, with a projected year-over-year growth of 12.5% [11]

BNPL Fintech Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM), the flexible payment solutions provider, has unveiled updates that broaden its “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) offerings across retail, home services, and wellness sectors.Announced this month, these developments seemingly underscore Affirm’s commitment to transparent, consumer-friendly financing amid a growing demand for flexible payments.By integrating with major platforms and enhancing mobile capabilities, Affirm is positioning itself to capture more of the ...

Core Insights - Affirm Holdings, Inc. (AFRM) is enhancing its leadership in the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) sector through strategic partnerships with ServiceTitan and Vagaro, expanding its market reach and service offerings [1][8] Group 1: Partnerships and Market Expansion - The collaboration with ServiceTitan allows contractors to offer clients flexible pay-over-time options for home repair projects, addressing the growing demand for affordable payment solutions in the home improvement sector [2] - The partnership with Vagaro connects Affirm to approximately 100,000 businesses in the beauty, wellness, and fitness industries, enabling consumers to manage payments for lifestyle services, thereby increasing sales and customer retention for small businesses [3][8] - These partnerships signify Affirm's strategy to integrate into everyday transactions, enhancing its ecosystem and consumer base for sustained growth in the evolving BNPL landscape [4] Group 2: Competitive Landscape - Competitors in the BNPL space include PayPal and Visa, with PayPal reporting 438 million active accounts and a 5% year-over-year increase in net revenues to $8.3 billion in Q2 2025 [5] - Visa experienced a 10% year-over-year increase in processed transactions and an 8% rise in payment volume in Q3 fiscal 2025, alongside a 14% growth in net revenues [6] Group 3: Financial Performance and Valuation - Year-to-date, AFRM's shares have increased by 47.7%, outperforming the industry average rise of 23.6% [7] - Affirm's forward price-to-sales ratio stands at 7.03, above the industry average of 5.85, indicating a higher valuation compared to peers [9] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects a 473.3% growth in Affirm's fiscal 2026 earnings and a 23.4% year-over-year growth in revenues for the same period [10]

Summary of Global Payments Conference Call Company Overview - **Company**: Global Payments - **Industry**: Payments and IT Services - **Transaction**: Acquisition of Worldpay Key Points Company Growth and Transformation - Global Payments has grown from over $1 billion in revenue to nearly $10 billion over the past 11 years, indicating significant growth driven by M&A activities [4][5] - A transformation effort was launched to reorient the business from a holding company structure to a unified operating company model, aimed at long-term growth and sustainability [5][6] - The focus is shifting towards merchant solutions, with the exit from the issuer solutions business as part of the Worldpay acquisition strategy [6][7] Genius Platform - Genius is a unified point-of-sale platform aimed at enhancing capabilities for restaurant and retail customers globally [10][11] - The platform has met key milestones, including launches in the U.S. and U.K., with plans for expansion into Canada, Mexico, and other international markets starting in 2026 [12][15] - The platform is designed to be highly configurable and scalable, targeting both SMB and enterprise segments [12][13] Sales Transformation - A new sales compensation structure has been implemented, replacing a long-standing plan from 1994, with over 90% retention during the transition [19][20] - Investments are being made in marketing, lead generation, and customer experience to enhance sales execution and productivity [20][21] Worldpay Acquisition - The acquisition of Worldpay is expected to close in the first half of 2026, with regulatory approvals progressing well [29][30] - The combined entity will have pro forma revenues of nearly $13 billion and process $4 trillion in payments annually across 175 countries [35][36] - The integration plan focuses on positioning the combined business for long-term growth, competitive advantage, and leveraging the strengths of both organizations [34][35] E-commerce and Enterprise Focus - Worldpay's strengths in enterprise and e-commerce, which account for 50% of its business, are seen as key growth drivers [42][43] - Global Payments aims to leverage its product capabilities, including Genius, to enhance Worldpay's SMB offerings and re-accelerate growth in that segment [49][50] Alternative Payment Methods - The proliferation of various payment methods, including Buy Now, Pay Later and stablecoins, is viewed as net additive to the business, enhancing the value provided to clients [62][63] - Stablecoins are expected to play a role in B2B payments and cross-border transactions, with ongoing investments to support these capabilities [65][66] Divestitures and Capital Allocation - Global Payments has divested approximately $550 million in revenue, returning about $1 billion to shareholders, and is evaluating further divestitures post-Worldpay acquisition [68][70] - The company plans to return $7.5 billion to shareholders from regular cash flow between 2025 and 2027 while targeting a leverage ratio of three times [75][76] Future Outlook - The combined business is expected to generate nearly $5 billion in leverage-free cash flow by 2028, significantly enhancing shareholder return potential [79][81] - The payments industry is anticipated to undergo further consolidation, with scale becoming increasingly important for competitive positioning and regulatory compliance [89][90] Additional Insights - The integration of Global Payments and Worldpay is seen as a unique opportunity to create a powerful player in the payments industry, with complementary strengths and capabilities [40][41] - The focus on innovation and technology investment is critical for maintaining competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving market [85][88]

Core Insights - Klarna Group has recently gone public, pricing shares at $40 and raising approximately $1.37 billion, resulting in a valuation of around $15 billion [1][2] Company Overview - Klarna is a significant player in the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) sector, which gained popularity during the pandemic by allowing consumers to make purchases without upfront payment, repaying in installments, often interest-free [3][5] - The company partners with merchants to attract new customers and provide repeat business, offering interest-free payments and a budgeting tool through its app [5][6] Financial Performance - In 2024, Klarna's gross merchandise volume (GMV) reached over $105 billion, reflecting a 14% year-over-year increase, following a 12% growth in 2023 [10] - For the second quarter of 2025, Klarna reported a 21% year-over-year GMV growth, with active consumers increasing by 31% to 111 million, while revenue was $823 million, also up 21% year-over-year [11][12] - Despite revenue growth, Klarna experienced a rise in net losses to $53 million, compared to a $2 million loss in the same quarter of 2024 [11] Competitive Landscape - Compared to Affirm Holdings, Klarna has a higher GMV of approximately $56.5 billion over the last two quarters, while Affirm's GMV was $19 billion [12] - Both companies generated similar revenue in the second quarter, with Klarna at $823 million and Affirm at $876 million, but they operate under different business models [12][13] Business Model and Sustainability - Klarna's revenue primarily comes from merchant fees, while Affirm relies on longer-term loans that often include interest [13] - Klarna's fee-heavy model focusing on interest-free loans may be more sustainable through economic cycles, although rising losses could necessitate stricter underwriting, potentially slowing GMV growth [14] Market Position - Klarna's stock trades at a little over 5 times annualized revenue, which is considered reasonable in the current market context [14] - Having a banking charter provides Klarna with an advantage over Affirm, which depends on selling loans to asset managers and private credit companies, a less sustainable funding source during economic downturns [15]

Core Insights - Block has gained one million monthly active users for its Cash App debit card featuring Afterpay's buy now, pay later (BNPL) options since February, indicating strong growth potential [1] - The company has allowed some of its 26 million active card users to retroactively apply BNPL loans to their purchases, with plans to increase the number of cardholders eligible for post-purchase loans [2] - Block anticipates financial benefits from the debit card-Afterpay combination by 2026, aiming to create a transparent credit card experience for consumers [3] Financial Performance - Cash App has extended $2 billion in lending on an annualized run rate since integrating Afterpay loans into its debit card [4] - The commerce category, which includes Cash App and Afterpay, experienced a 16% growth in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2024, with a customer spending volume of $183 billion over the past year [6] Consumer Behavior - The company has observed that younger consumers are increasingly cautious about traditional credit cards, leading to a growth in Cash App's lending [5] - Consumers are reevaluating their relationship with traditional credit, seeking more transparent fee structures and avoiding compounding interest [6]

Here's How To Categorize Corrections — And Why Doing So Helps Set Expectations 9/10/2025What happens when things get extended … and what should you expect when pullbacks occur? Eric Krull, founder of Krull... SPECIAL REPORT: Most Trusted Financial Companies By Category Klarna stock's post-IPO moves require patience from investors hoping to make money out of the booming "buy now, pay later" trend. Stockholm-based Klarna (KLAR) is among the first wave of personal fintech companies focused on offering short-te ...