Walmart brings BNPL to self-checkout as payment plans pick up for the holidays
Big cart, small receipt... Walmart’s now offering buy now, pay later options at self-checkout kiosks at 4.5K+ of its US stores. The new service expands on an existing partnership between the nation’s largest retailer and Affirm, which already provides BNPL options on Walmart’s website and at 4K+ of its Supercenters. Now eligible shoppers can use Affirm’s app or website to self-check-out with a payment plan, no associate necessary.
Deal or no deal: Citing its own research, Affirm says more than half of Americans now look for a BNPL option at checkout, with many saying they’d delay or ditch a purchase without it.
25 days of payments… With Americans already facing a record $1T+ in credit-card debt, one in five US shoppers is expected to use buy now, pay later services to fulfill their holiday wish lists. It’s a trend: BNPL users spent a record $940M on Cyber Monday this year, up 43% from 2022. Pay-later financing on Black Friday also surged, by 47%, compared to last year. Some estimates suggest that global use of BNPL loans is expected to more than double to 900M+ people by 2027.
Convenience can be too easy… BNPL demand had been cooling over the past few years, but uncertain economic times may’ve helped turn that around. Because many pay-later plans aren’t reported to credit bureaus, consumers can finance big buys without necessarily dinging their credit scores. But analysts say BNPL can also make it too easy to rack up debt: nearly 43% of pay-later users have overdrawn a bank account in the past year.