Deep Dive: The rising ‘buy now, pay later’ trend

Towards the end of 2020, a number of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) startups started ramping up their marketing, plastering ads across malls, train stations, and even social media platforms.

What led to the rise of this new payment method? And is BNPL here to stay?

On this episode of Deep Dive, Tech in Asia journalists Melissa Goh and Putra Muskita discuss the growing popularity of BNPL, the potential risks it poses to consumers and businesses, and what it could become in the future.

Timecodes:

00:00 – Intro music
00:46 – Today’s topic: The rising “buy now, pay later” trend
01:14 – Increasingly aggressive marketing strategies
01:57 – What led to the hype
03:40 – Various models across Asia
05:00 – How BNPL firms make money
07:31 – Most of them focus on ecommerce
10:00 – Enter the payment giants and incumbents
13:06 – The different role BNPL plays in emerging markets
15:24 – The potential downsides of BNPL
17:52 – The risks that BNPL firms face
20:24 – Future opportunities for the BNPL industry
22:39 – Sneak peek of Startup Snapshot season 3

Download the full transcript here.

Featured reporter:

• Melissa Goh, a Tech in Asia journalist based in Singapore
• Putra Muskita, a Tech in Asia reporter based in Jakarta, Indonesia

Essential reading:

• Explaining the fast rise of Kredivo, Akulaku, and Oriente to the $500m club
• Why the time is ripe for ‘buy now, pay later’ in Asia
• ‘Buy now, pay later’ heats up in Singapore with Grab, Mastercard entering the scene
• Southeast Asia’s biggest buy now, pay later players
• The dark side of ‘buy now, pay later’

Episode Sponsor:

Tech in Asia Explains is a Tech in Asia Originals series that dives into everything that budding entrepreneurs need to know about starting a business, getting insights from leading personalities in the industry.

Watch Tech in Asia Explains now.

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