Buy-now-pay-later offers SMEs an alternate credit source.

Although generally available in the consumer market for about a decade, the electronic payment model of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is finally bearing fruit for micro, small and midsize enterprises (MSMEs) by avoiding interest payments on corporate credit cards, reducing paperwork, facilitating quicker transactions, and improving liquidity management.

The business-to-business (B2B) BNPL transaction works similarly to the business-to-consumer (B2C) BNPL transaction. After a third party runs a credit check and assumes the credit risk of non-payment, a purchaser can delay payment for a fixed period or pay in whole or installments.

Using B2B BNPL, MSMEs avoid tapping their credit lines to pay invoices and avoid trade credit negotiations. For suppliers, it works like reverse factoring, where the buyer uses a third party to pay the invoice immediately and reimburses the financing third party later.

Many MSMEs in sectors like retail, manufacturing and technology have become early adopters of B2B BNPL, according to Arjun Singh, partner and global head of fintech, financial services practice at Arthur D. Little (ADL). “Additionally, marketplaces are increasingly incorporating B2B BNPL as part of their embedded finance and financial innovation strategies, helping businesses address liquidity challenges and streamline payment processes.”

The travel and hospitality industry also has dipped its toe into the new payment model driven by their short-term and seasonal needs, adds Nilesh Vaidya, global head of banking and capital markets at Capgemini. “Restaurants have had a challenging run in the last couple of years, and they’re looking for that credit. So they are into that. They want to get that kind of loan quicker, and it is an interesting business for the banks.”

The areas where B2C and B2B BNPL diverge are maturity, market size, and client base. The B2B BNPL sector is in its infancy compared to the B2C BNPL sector, which has benefited from e-commerce’s hyper-growth and a growing base of young users with little or no credit history.

“It has become a must-have not only in retail but across various sectors,” says Singh. “According to some estimates, B2C BNPL accounts for approximately 5% of global e-commerce spending.”

The travel and hospitality industry also has dipped its toe into the new payment model driven by their short-term and seasonal needs, adds Nilesh Vaidya, global head of banking and capital markets at Capgemini. “Restaurants have had a challenging run in the last couple of years, and they’re looking for that credit. So they are into that. They want to get that kind of loan quicker, and it is an interesting business for the banks.”

The areas where B2C and B2B BNPL diverge are maturity, market size, and client base. The B2B BNPL sector is in its infancy compared to the B2C BNPL sector, which has benefited from e-commerce’s hyper-growth and a growing base of young users with little or no credit history.

“It has become a must-have not only in retail but across various sectors,” says Singh. “According to some estimates, B2C BNPL accounts for approximately 5% of global e-commerce spending.”

On the other hand, B2B BNPL is a sleeping giant that is ready to awaken. It is driven by larger and often more complex transactions. The authors of a viewpoint published by ADL estimated that B2B BNPL would capture 15% to 20% of all B2B payments by the decade’s end.

“This would equal approximately $25-$30 trillion BNPL volume and, assuming average BNPL fees of 3%-4% per transaction, a total addressable market between $700 billion and $1.3 trillion,” they wrote.

Geographically, BNPL is a global phenomenon available in approximately 80 markets, with the Asia-Pacific markets leading adoption in China and South Asia, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, according to Vaidya. “After that, we have seen a lot more applicability in Europe because the immediate payment access is better. In the US, there have been many new BNPL providers.”

Where Credit Is Due

The BNPL model would not function without third parties taking on the non-payment credit risk. Fintechs—such as Sweden’s Klarna, Australia’s Afterpay, and America’s Affirm—blazed a path for the B2C BNPL space, capturing considerable market share while expanding their offerings.

Nonetheless, Capgemini’s Vaidya notes that banks will likely dominate the B2B BNPL market.

“Klarna and Afterpay have a lot of retail customers, individuals who are buying in malls and big box retailers or on an e-commerce online shop,” he says. “Banks are doing better in the small and midsize enterprise segment.”

While fintechs continue to crack into the B2B market, banks already have existing financial relationships with MSMEs and their suppliers and offer them another way to provide credit to their commercial customers. This is especially true for businesses with revenues in the $20-$50 million range and had difficulty obtaining small-ticket loans historically.

However, financial institutions’ results are not all rosy. The B2B BNPL business comes at the cost of commercial credit card fees and those generated by a bank’s factoring and reverse factoring business lines.

“In the past, a business would go and buy something on its commercial credit card, and a bank would generate a fee on the transaction,” explains Vaidya. “When an immediate account-to-account payment option is possible, they can pay their suppliers directly where they didn’t need credit. So the banks need to do something.”

The banks have gone big with their B2B BNPL offerings. Global banking giants Banco Santander and BNP Paribas began offering their respective BNPL services to their large multinational clients in 2023 via partnerships with payment platforms and trade insurance providers. Banco Santander Corporate Investment Bank launched its turnkey service, which incorporates the payment platform from net-terms infrastructure provider Two and the services of insurance broker Marsh Spain and credit-insurance provider Allianz Trade.

“The fact that buyers have to use personal or corporate credit cards is still hindering B2B transactions. Enabling businesses to maintain their payment habits within 30 or 60 days of their invoices in an e-commerce environment will be a big differentiator for sellers while adding a major game changer: all concerns about non-payment risk are now removed, and their cash flow is preserved at all times,” said Ignacio Frutos Lopez, global head receivables at Banco Santander CIB at the time of the launch.

Three months later, BNP Paribas launched its service in partnership with Hokodo, a B2B payment platform provider that can integrate with existing checkout platforms via an API. The service provides real-time credit decisions, transaction financing, credit and fraud insurance, and collection capabilities.

Moving Forward

Despite its potential remarkable growth, B2B BNPL still has a few hurdles to overcome. According to the authors of the ADL viewpoint, customer awareness and regulation are the leading concerns, followed by risk assessment, product structures, cross-border trade issues, technology integration, costs and competition.

“A significant portion of the target market needs to be educated about the benefits and risks of the proposition,” says ADL’s Singh.

According to research by Capgemini, BNPL’s expected adoption rate will remain flat for the next couple of years. In a study of e-commerce shares by checkout method, BNPL garnered a 5% share in 2023 and is forecasted to have a 5% share in 2027. Meanwhile, credit cards, which had a 22% share in 2023, are predicted to shrink to a 15% share over the same period.

As the size of the entire BNPL market increases, regulators are investing more effort in addressing BNPL offerings as separate from typical longer-term interest-bearing loans. However, according to Eric Mitzenmacher, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown, BNPL-specific regulation remains nascent in many jurisdictions.

“The US—despite being a fertile market for BNPL offerings due to the size of its economy and certain helpful regulatory factors—has one of the more complex and rapidly evolving regulatory environments for BNPLs,” he says. “Many other jurisdictions currently have more permissive environments for BNPL, particularly for BNPLs offered to SMEs versus consumers, with the potential exception of BNPLs offered by banks and similarly regulated financial institutions.”

Singh agrees, saying, “Unlike consumer credit, which has a relatively uniform regulation across jurisdictions, business lending and credit regulations are diverse and fragmented, lacking the same clarity—especially in cross-border scenarios.”

Even with these hurdles, Singh expects B2B BNPL to have a similar adoption curve as its consumer counterpart and gain traction across multiple sectors and transaction types. “As commerce continues to unify across channels and customers demand greater personalization, the reach and impact of B2B BNPL will expand significantly, offering businesses increased flexibility and financial options.”