Buy now, pay later: A split decision

Wall Street Breakfast

Seeking Alpha

Business News, News, Business, Investing

4.1 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services like Affirm (AFRM) and Klarna (KLAR) are becoming a go-to option at checkout, allowing shoppers to split purchases into smaller, often interest-free payments. Federal Reserve data shows younger users are more likely to use BNPL—and more likely to miss a payment. From an investment standpoint, analysts remain divided between Affirm and Klarna, while experts warn the convenience of BNPL can come with budgeting risks.

Episode transcripts seekingalpha.com/wsb.

Show links:
Affirm signals 30% GMV growth in Q3 2026 while advancing card and international expansion
Affirm: Groceries On Credit? The Shift In BNPL And The Credit Market
Affirm: Merchant Concentration And U.K. Challenges Point To 30% Downside
Klarna Group plc (KLAR) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Klarna Proves Itself A BNPL/Neobank Disruptor - Initiate Buy With Caveats

Sign up for our daily newsletter here and for full access to analyst ratings, stock quant scores, dividend grades, subscribe to Seeking Alpha Premium at seekingalpha.com/subscriptions.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning.
0:07.6	It's good to have you here on this Friday, February 13th. I'm Julie Morgan.
0:13.6	As we embark on this holiday weekend, you've probably noticed the sales and maybe even already given into the power of advertisement.
0:21.8	And soon, likely next week, that special item will grace your doorstep in a box that's
0:27.0	being put together as we speak. One of the options you may have noticed at checkout was for
0:32.2	buy now, pay later. The concept isn't new. Credit cards have been around since the mid-1900s, essentially a way to buy now and pay later. The New York Fed says Americans credit card debt has topped $1.28 trillion. But we aren't talking about credit cards today. We're talking about that option you have when you buy something online and it allows you
0:55.4	to choose how to pay. Credit or debit cards are always welcome. Some merchants also allow you to
1:01.6	use an account that is built into your phone like Apple Pay. Still others offer the option we're
1:07.0	focusing on today. Buy Now, pay later, using a firm, afterpay, Klarna, or PayPal, to name a few.
1:14.9	Those companies allow the consumer to split their payments into smaller amounts, zero interest,
1:20.5	no credit check. Usually, the set number of payments is four with no interest, but if you need
1:25.9	more time, you could be hit with interest,
1:28.1	and the companies show you how much up front. So how do they make money? The retailers.
1:34.2	The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis says the revenue for the firms and Klarna's of the world
1:39.4	comes primarily from the fees they charge retailers for using buy Now Pay Later services. It notes the fees are
1:46.8	often higher than those charged by credit card companies, but retailers are willing to pay these fees
1:52.6	to increase sales. So something must be working. Buy Now Pay Later is an option for regular everyday purchases
2:00.1	like groceries.
2:01.4	You can even pay for a vacation over time.
2:04.0	Not to mention something that has been on repeat in my news feed for the past couple of weeks.
2:09.2	Rent Now Pay Later.
2:11.2	Yes, you can now split your rent into two payments.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Seeking Alpha, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Seeking Alpha and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.