Southeast Asia’s “buy now, pay later” battle

Every day, 100k+ smart people read our newsletter. You can sign up here.

Hello readers,

The number of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) advertisements I’ve seen lately in Singapore can almost rival the amount of hype surrounding Clubhouse. We have one BNPL player plastering their advertisements all over Singapore’s central district, and we have another that’s inside almost every Samsung store I enter. They definitely did their marketing right, because I’m having some kind of FOMO about not being on any BNPL platform yet. And I might not be the only one: BNPL adoption is set to grow exponentially in the coming years, and Asia Pacific is going to be a key driver.

Today we look at:

• The who’s who in Southeast Asia’s “buy now, pay later” market
• The startup that raised money to make websites more accessible
• Other newsy highlights such as India-based digital payments startup BharatPe closing in on unicorn status and TikTok seeing hope in the US

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Shop ’til you drop

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is getting a lot of attention these days, attracting players including Southeast Asian super app Grab and ecommerce major Shopee to jump on the opportunity. The excitement isn’t surprising, considering how Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in BNPL adoption between 2020 to 2027. But who are the players getting all the hype?

• Big, but not enough: Although Grab and Shopee have joined the BNPL battle, both of them are available only in two Southeast Asian markets. Atome is leading the game with its presence in five markets, and Hoolah and Pine Lab are making plans to operate in six.
• The countries that are lovin’ it: According to the Tech in Asia chart, it’s clear that some markets are getting the most attention from BNPL players: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
• Funding interest: Southeast Asian BNPL players are getting more attention from both investors and companies. The number of funding deals in the region’s BNPL space hit a record number last year, and Australia-based Afterpay acquired Indonesian fintech startup EmpatKali in August.

Read more with charts: Southeast Asia’s biggest buy now, pay later players

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

Making websites more accessible

Most of us are glued to our screens every day reading news, buying online groceries, and hailing rides. But for those with disabilities, they might face difficulties doing these same actions. Web accessibility solution provider AccessiBe helps them with that, and it has recently completed its series A round of US$28 million.