BNPL apps that saw the most traffic during the holidays

It’s been an explosive year for BNPL industry leaders like Afterpay, Affirm and Klarna.

It felt like everyone was briefly stepping into the BNPL game as in-person outlets started adding the option after e-commerce was embraced and banking and technology partnerships formed.

Along with the enthusiasm for split payments, news has emerged that some customers who split payments have come to regret their purchases, and regulators have taken cognizance.

All of this combined: How has competition among the top contenders for consumer debt intensified during the long-awaited holiday shopping frenzy?

BNPL Holiday Sale

First results, estimated by the CEO of PayPal Dan Schulman, said in November that the BNPL option via the world’s oldest fintech jumped 400% year-over-year on Black Friday after Thanksgiving alone.

“We made some 750,000 transactions in one day on Black Friday,” Schulman said.

Paypal recorded $1 billion in volume through BNPL in November. It was only the beginning.

Pending fourth quarter results, 42subjects, a tech company that built an App Watchlist platform to track mobile product usage, created a curated guide comparing the best in the industry. Here is what they found:

The Top 5 BNPL applications on mobile from December to January 6, 2022

Easy payment in four easy payments, “zero credit impact”. Claims over 40 million users but has reports high losses.

• Total downloads: 10,000,000+
• Android downloads in the last 30 days: 2,836,070
• iOS downloads in the last 30 days: 2,505,710

Buy online and pay later and shop. Block (formerly Square) announced the acquisition of Afterpay for $29 billion in August.

• Total downloads: 1,000,000+
• Android downloads in the last 30 days: 336,040
• iOS downloads in the last 30 days: 484 493

“Spread purchases into easy monthly payments.” A major exclusive deal for Amazon Shopping was announced in September.

• Total downloads: 1,000,000+
• Android downloads in the last 30 days: 411 849
• iOS downloads in the last 30 days: 318,260

A Canadian BNPL founded in 2019. Despite the success, the stock was hit hard after buying Friends over the summer, down 50% since.

• Total downloads: 1,000,000+
• Android downloads in the last 30 days: 175,823
• iOS downloads in the last 30 days: 49,692

5: Zipper (formerly Quadpay)

Split any purchase into four installments. No interest, no credit check.

• Total downloads: 1,000,000+
• Android downloads in the last 30 days: 96,771
• iOS downloads in the last 30 days: 91,411

Downloads between November 1, 2021 and January 1, 2022

Klarna was by far the most popular of the five Android apps, generating some 4.5 million downloads in the selected timeframe. Next come Affirm (789,218 downloads), Afterpay (649,988), Sezzle (265,490) and Zip (200,150).

Similarly, Klarna led iOS apps with 4,380,057 downloads, followed by Afterpay 1.05M, Affirm 0.74M, Zip 162,811 and Sezzle 80,437.

But most notable is the fact that these BNPL apps seemed to follow an almost complete trend, with peaks around Black Friday (November 26), Cyber ​​​​Monday (November 29), mid-December and the Boxing Day (December 26).

Final Thoughts

Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, Zip and Sezzle still make up around 70% of the market, and those download numbers are only part of the picture.

Purchases with BNPL on the Amazon and PayPal ecosystems or through partnerships like Affirm and Apple are not included.

As the consumer product helped pump up Christmas shopping, regulators began asking questions. In December, the CFPB sent letters to the main BNPL companies in the United States, asking how they could provide small, short-term loans with limited covenants or credit checks.

The results of the new credit option have not yet returned, but one thing is certain: consumers buy more when they have a BNPL option at checkout, and the product continues to inspire new members to enter the space.

It could also be a simple small loan product with a credit check: last week, Equifax has announced that it will begin register BNPL reports on their credit system in 2022.

Intensely energetic journalist who finds inspiration by following breaking news and covering the collision of Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Experienced in news writing, digital media production for online and print publications, newspapers and magazines, as well as editing and editing press releases. He studied history at the University of Delaware and wrote for the Review. Email me at kevin@lendit.com with story ideas, questions, or just to say hello.