The players spearheading Southeast Asia’s BNPL revival

When we last updated Southeast Asia’s BNPL landscape map in May 2024, the sector was under strain. Funding was drying up as inflation and higher interest rates rattled investors.

Less than two years later, the model is evolving. BNPL firms are expanding beyond pure-play offerings into broader financial services, with traditional financial institutions increasingly stepping in as funding partners rather than VCs.

So far, Atome and Kredivo have a combined US$523 million in funding from institutions like Baiduri Bank Group, HSBC, and DBS Bank.

That amount already makes 2026 the most heavily funded year for BNPL in Southeast Asia.

So what comes next for the region’s BNPL players and how might AI reshape the way these companies operate?

The profitability playbook

The region’s leading BNPL players are now on firmer financial footing, according to Aayush Gupta, a senior consultant at Redseer Strategy Consultants.

He points out that these companies have boosted their top-line revenue by about 3% to 4% while trimming operational expenses by 1% to 2% on average.

Akulaku Finance, the Indonesian arm of BNPL major Akulaku, recently posted net profit of US$6.4 million in 2025, according to DealStreetAsia, citing an unaudited performance statement from the company. The update also shows that about 89% of Akulaku Finance’s total financing portfolio came from its BNPL arm.

The overall gains in the market are driven by a growing acceptance of interest-bearing BNPL products, an influx of private credit funding replacing venture capital to finance consumer loans, and tighter credit underwriting and risk monitoring, Gupta adds.

DBS Bank, for example, backed both the recent rounds of Atome and Kredivo, while HSBC financed companies like Atome and Akulaku.

Western users tend to view BNPL as a budgeting convenience, often expecting zero interest, according to Gupta.

In Southeast Asia, consumers are more accustomed to installment financing as a substitute for limited credit card access, making them more tolerant of fees and in turn driving more revenue.

Georg Steiger, CEO of Billease, characterizes the Western model as “transaction-focused and product-focused,” leveraging preexisting systems like credit card rails and established credit-scoring systems.

Credit card penetration remains low in Southeast Asia, meaning BNPL firms in the region must assess customers on the spot using alternative data and build relationships over time, rather than simply processing a checkout transaction, Steiger says.

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