Market modeling estimates that BNPL transactions in the United States would be about 12 percent higher in 2025 than in 2024. This is according to a market model released in the first quarter of 2025. Since 2023, consumers were looking for money lending alternatives as they were looking to avoid taking on new credit card debt. This growth can be seen in the monthly app installs of certain BNPL providers in the United States. Note that the source does not give further indications of what the figures provided here are based on. As buy now, pay later was unregulated in many countries across the world by early 2023, transaction figures on this payment method were scarce unless a domestic financial supervisor managed to request data from individual BNPL providers. This happened in the United States, providing insights into the different product segments U.S. consumers use BNPL for.

The number of payment cards in circulation worldwide grew by nearly one billion between 2022 and 2023, and is forecast to increase further. The source adds that some of the largest brands on cards issued across the world include UnionPay, Visa, and MasterCard. Roughly 188 billion purchase transactions were made using Visa in 2020 — an increase of 1.3 percent. The figures provided concern credit, debit, and prepaid cards that are issued either as general purpose or via private label. Which card scheme is the biggest? In terms of individual card schemes, China's UnionPay is expected to have more cards in circulation than either Visa or Mastercard by 2027. UnionPay is especially prevalent in the Asia-Pacific. Domestic card schemes — which take up a significant market share in Europe — are also projected to increase between 2022 and 2027. Note also that private label cards, which include retail branded cards or fuel cards, have a similar market size to UnionPay. By 2017, private label issued cards are expected to make up roughly 30 percent of total cards in circulation. When looking at the largest cards schemes based on the global number of transactions processed, Visa's market share in 2022 was over 57 percent against 10 percent for UnionPay. Cards to face increasing competition from alternative payments Payment cards are expected to remain the biggest digital payment method in both an offline and online environment. Alternative payment methods are expected to reach a higher CAGR than transactions with cards, however. This CAGR growth between 2022 and 2027 is highest for e-commerce: The transaction value of alternative payments in online shopping is to increase with a CAGR of 11.7 percent between 2022 and 2027. This compared to 9.7 percent for card not present transactions. Alternative payment methods — or APMs, as the source calls them — can be any form of noncash payment that does not involve a credit or debit card. This can include mobile wallets but also buy now, pay later, or payments performed with cryptocurrency or stablecoins.

In 2022, eight out of 10 top global buy now, pay later (BNPL) markets worldwide were in northwestern Europe as consumers looked for new e-commerce payment methods. The market share of BNPL services in domestic e-commerce payments in both Sweden and Germany was around ten times higher than the same market share in global e-commerce payments. The popularity of Sweden's BNPL provider Klarna may be at the heart of this, one of the most used online payment methods among German consumers in 2023.

Is BNPL still growing? The global buy now, pay later market size will increase by nearly 450 billion USD between 2021 and 2026. This would mean a further acceleration of growth. Whether the cost of living crisis impacts these figures is not immediately clear. Some believe it may drive consumers to use buy now, pay later more often. On the other hand, a global economic downturn led Klarna's private-market valuation to fall by 85 percent in 2022. Consequently, the company laid off 700 employees.

Brand preference varies per country The country of origin of a BNPL brand can impact its adoption. Estimates based on website tracking and the technologies used within them reveal that merchants from Sweden, and especially its neighboring countries, offered Klarna relatively more often than anywhere else. This extended beyond the Nordics. Merchants from Australia and New Zealand were more likely to offer Afterpay - which comes from Australia - than e-commerce websites from other parts of the world. The United States is home to several major brands like Affirm, Sezzle, and Zip. These face competition from PayPal.

According to a survey on buy now, pay later (BNPL) in Australia, 43 percent of respondents stated that they used BNPL services in the past six months as of July 2024. The country has seen a rapid uptake of BNPL services over the past few years, with consumers attracted to the zero-interest sometimes offered and convenience. BNPL in Australia The overall penetration rate of BNPL is high in Australia compared to similar economies. Still, there are differences between generational usage of BNPL services in Australia, with Gen Z and Millennial consumers using these payment services more than older generations. The leading BNPL brand in Australia is afterpay, with a high adoption rate for both point-of-sale and online transactions. Consumer credit causing problems? The average BNPL debt in Australia has consistently exceeded 1,000 Australian dollars over the past few years, though as of July 2024, has dropped to under 900 Australian dollars. Due to cost-of-living pressures, many consumers have had to pay for essential items with the payment service, according to financial advisors in Australia. While the benefit of having the item purchased immediately is clear, BNPL users often need to pay late fees if they do not make their scheduled repayments on time.

Market modeling estimates that BNPL transactions in the United Kingdom would be about 12 percent higher in 2025 than in 2024. This is according to a market model released in the first quarter of 2025, which placed the UK among the highest user markets in Europe for buy now, pay later. Klarna launched in the UK in late 2018, with Australia's Afterpay joing in 2019 alongside domestic alternatives such as Laybuy. Klarna downloads in the United Kingdom were not as high as those of PayPal in 2022, but the difference between the two apps was getting smaller. Note that the source does not give further indications of what the figures provided here are based on. As buy now, pay later was unregulated in many countries across the world in early 2024, transaction figures on this payment method were scarce unless a domestic financial supervisor managed to request data from individual BNPL providers.

According to a 2024 survey on buy now pay later (BNPL) services in Australia, the average value of late fees paid by BNPL users in the last 12 months was 119 Australian dollars as of January 2024. October 2021 saw a peak in the average amount of BNPL fees, with users forfeiting an average of 181 Australian dollars.

BNPL was not the most used payment method in U.S. e-commerce in 2022, although it did grow relatively quickly. The United States prefers credit cards and mobile wallets over other payment options, likely due to the popularity and user experience with mobile payment apps such as PayPal. The figures shown here are from before Apple entered the United States BNPL market. Installment loans through this specific provider may increase the market share of buy now, pay later. Apple Pay Later rushed to a penetration rate not far behind Affirm, only months after launch.

Wallets and credit cards: Less used than elsewhere

North America's use of credit cards and digital wallets in online shopping was not the highest in the world. A global comparison in e-commerce payment behavior shows that credit cards accounted for 35 percent of e-commerce payments in Latin America in 2022. North America's 31 percent was on par with the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Wallets are noticeably more popular in Asia-Pacific than in North America - reaching a 69 percent and 32 percent market share, respectively. This popularity of wallets causes predictions to be that the number of cashless payments will increase much more in Asia-Pacific than in Europe and North America combined.

BNPL and crypto: The way forward?

Predictions are that eight out of 10 e-commerce vendors in the United States will offer buy now, pay later on their website come 2024. Respondents to a 2022 survey, especially, hoped to offer BNPL or cryptocurrency on their website within the next two years. One should note that the response pre-dated the fall of crypto exchange FTX. Additionally, the source does not clarify whether merchants would like to accept direct payments with Bitcoin or whether this involved a third-party payment aggregator.

As of June 2024, Klarna reported to still have 150 million users - a figure it reported since 2022. This is according to a compilation from Statista using the company filing of some of the world's main brands in buy now, pay later. BNPL is a relatively untracked market, as many countries do not have regulation in place for this new type of payment. Consequently, accurate figures are difficult to come by. Afterpay, for example, was taken over by Block (formerly Square) and does not share its user count anymore. Klarna is not publicly listed, although rumors appeared in 2024 it might do so in the future. Affirm is publicly listed, however, and shared a growing interest of BNPL in the United States.

In 2021, the buy now pay later (BNPL) customer base for online and offline retail was five and two million, respectively. This is expected to surge to 30 million for online retail and 22 million for offline retail in the year 2026. Buy now pay later is a type of point of sale financing which allows the consumers to make purchases and pay in the future. ZestMoney, Amazon Pay Later, Paytm postpaid are some of the BNPL players in the Indian market.

Klarna reported to have a GMV of nearly 1,000 billion Swedish kroner in 2024, which translates to a processing volume of about 93 billion U.S. dollars. This is according to a compilation from Statista using the company filing of some of the world's main brands in buy now, pay later. BNPL is a relatively untracked market, as many countries do not have regulation in place for this new type of payment. Klarna's figures, for example, are shared by the company itself, even if it is not publicly listed. Affirm, on the other hands, is listed on the U.S. stock exchange, and has to share both its user count and processed volume.

In January 2025, PayPal continued to dominate the market for online payment processing technologies worldwide, holding a market share of 45 percent. Coming in second place was Stripe with a market share of approximately 17 percent. This according to a ranking that measured the use of these payment methods on the web domains of companies worldwide. The source, however, does not define from which countries these companies are. PayPal leads the race PayPal is a leading global digital payment provider that enables users to make online, mobile, and peer-to-peer payments. It is a popular payment method for digital purchases on e-commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon. In 2020 and 2021, PayPal reported its strongest revenue growth, increasing by over 20 percent year-on-year, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statista's Global Consumer Survey figures, PayPal adoption in 2022 was high in countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Austria. Future of digital payments The payments industry is undergoing significant changes due to new regulations and the Fintech revolution. Innovative solutions from Fintech companies are challenging traditional banks and card networks to adapt and remain relevant. To stay significant, they must provide digital payment solutions, personalized customer service, and collaborate with other banks and Fintech companies to create new revenue streams. The focus is on real-time, low-value, high-volume payments for peer-to-peer, e-commerce, and m-commerce (mobile e-commerce).

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) penetration in the digital channel of Casas Bahia Group reached 8.4 percent of first-party sales and 9.7 percent of third-party sales in the fourth quarter of 2024. This is the quarter where the penetration rate of BNPL in the digital channel of the Brazilian retailer was the highest since records began.

Credit cards increasingly lost market share as Canada's most popular online payment method, as digital wallets gained four percentage points in 2022. Nevertheless, credit cards was still the most used digital payment in the country that year. The source adds that Canadians' preference for credit also showed itself in buy now, pay later. BNPL gained roughly six percent market share within the country's overall e-commerce spending between 2020 and 2022.

In September 2024, the number of monthly active users (MAU) of QR code and barcode payment services in Japan expanded to around 82.7 million. The number of monthly active users has increased from around 23.1 million in January 2020.

As of 2024, around 1028.91 million people used mobile payments in China, 75 million more users compared to a year ago. After the growth rate of new users began to taper off after 2017, the outbreak of COVID-19 caused an influx of many new users. Digital money over hard cash Two companies have completely changed commerce in China. Alibaba and Tencent are the two main providers of mobile payments in the country with their platforms WeChat Pay and Alipay. A high penetration rate of mobile phones and the popularity of e-commerce have aided the popularization and adaption of mobile payments. Today, mobile payments are the primary vehicle to transfer money. The next step After payments have become digital, the currency is going to become digital next. In 2017, the Chinese government greenlighted the plans of the country’s central bank to develop a digital currency. Since 2020, the Digital Yen was slowly rolled out to the public through several testing circles. According to the People’s Bank of China, a digital currency would help regulators to reduce money laundering, corruption, and other illicit activities.

Real-time payments using Pix in Brazil were 110 percent higher in 2022 than during the same period one year prior. This concerns overall Pix transactions, both within the SPI as well as outside of it - although, the source mentions the majority occurs within the Instant Payment System. Pix is widely regarded as one of the more important instant payment systems - much like UPI in India or CoDi in Mexico - as they are deliberately designed to convert a relatively high unbanked Brazilian population into using more digital payments.

In 2023, the U.S. Consumer Price Index was 309.42, and is projected to increase to 352.27 by 2029. The base period was 1982-84. The monthly CPI for all urban consumers in the U.S. can be accessed here. After a time of high inflation, the U.S. inflation rateis projected fall to two percent by 2027. United States Consumer Price Index ForecastIt is projected that the CPI will continue to rise year over year, reaching 325.6 in 2027. The Consumer Price Index of all urban consumers in previous years was lower, and has risen every year since 1992, except in 2009, when the CPI went from 215.30 in 2008 to 214.54 in 2009. The monthly unadjusted Consumer Price Index was 296.17 for the month of August in 2022. The U.S. CPI measures changes in the price of consumer goods and services purchased by households and is thought to reflect inflation in the U.S. as well as the health of the economy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the CPI and defines it as, "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services." The BLS records the price of thousands of goods and services month by month. They consider goods and services within eight main categories: food and beverage, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, and other goods and services. They aggregate the data collected in order to compare how much it would cost a consumer to buy the same market basket of goods and services within one month or one year compared with the previous month or year. Given that the CPI is used to calculate U.S. inflation, the CPI influences the annual adjustments of many financial institutions in the United States, both private and public. Wages, social security payments, and pensions are all affected by the CPI.

In January 2025, prices had increased by three percent compared to January 2024 according to the 12-month percentage change in the consumer price index — the monthly inflation rate for goods and services in the United States. The data represents U.S. city averages. In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of the change in price level over time. The rate of decrease in the purchasing power of money is approximately equal. A projection of the annual U.S. inflation rate can be accessed here and the actual annual inflation rate since 1990 can be accessed here. InflationOne of the most important economic indicators is the development of the Consumer Price Index in a country. The change in this price level of goods and services is defined as the rate of inflation. The inflationary situation in the United States had been relatively severe in 2022 due to global events relating to COVID-19, supply chain restrains, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More information on U.S. inflation may be found on our dedicated topic page. The annual inflation rate in the United States has increased from 3.2 percent in 2011 to 8.3 percent in 2022. This means that the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar has weakened in recent years. The purchasing power is the extent to which a person has available funds to make purchases. According to the data published by the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was about 258.84 in 2020 and is forecasted to grow up to 325.6 by 2027, compared to the base period from 1982 to 1984. The monthly percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban consumers in the United States was 0.1 percent in March 2023 compared to the previous month. In 2022, countries all around the world are experienced high levels of inflation. Although Brazil already had an inflation rate of 8.3 percent in 2021, compared to the previous year, while the inflation rate in China stood at 0.85 percent.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, Duolingo had approximately 116.7 million monthly active users (MAUs) of the app. This represented an increase of around three percent compared to the previous quarter. Between the third quarter of 2020 and the end of 2024, Duolingo's monthly active users experienced a positive growth trend. How does Duolingo make money? Duolingo’s revenue witnessed an upward trend between 2020 and 2024, reaching a value of more than 178 million U.S. dollars during the second quarter of 2024. Duolingo Inc. generates revenue through its multiple services including app subscriptions, advertising, Duolingo English test, and in-app purchases. Subscriptions contributed the largest share to Duolingo’s revenue stream as the company generated over 400 million U.S. dollars solely from user subscriptions in 2023. In contrast, in-app purchases such as those generated by the selling of “gems”, Duolingo virtual currency that allow users to buy exclusive features and hints, generated around 35 million U.S. dollars in the last examined year. While the app attracted language learners from all markets, the United States was the country with the largest share of revenue, amounting to almost 240 million U.S. dollars in 2023. Duolingo leads the language learning apps market Language learning app publishers offer apps with a variety of interactive features for users. In 2024, Duolingo led the language learning apps market both in terms of number of downloads and yearly revenues. In July 2024, the popular language learning app recorded more than 14 million monthly downloads worldwide. Lingutown and Buddy.ai followed with 1.98 and 1.63 million monthly downloads, respectively. During the examined period, Duolingo was the highest-grossing language learning app and generated a revenue of more than 33 million U.S. dollars. Babbel ranked second with a revenue of 5.4 million U.S. dollars.What primarily motivates users to access language learning platforms? In 2023, the leading reason for using language learning apps in the United States was the desire to learn, as almost one-quarter of respondents reported they engaged with apps in this category out of curiosity. To have fluency in another language and travelling followed, 23 and 17 percent of respondents reporting to use language learning apps for these reasons, respectively.

The U.S. federal funds effective rate underwent a dramatic reduction in early 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate plummeted from 1.58 percent in February 2020 to 0.65 percent in March, and further decreased to 0.05 percent in April. This sharp reduction, accompanied by the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program, was implemented to stabilize the economy during the global health crisis. After maintaining historically low rates for nearly two years, the Federal Reserve began a series of rate hikes in early 2022, with the rate moving from 0.33 percent in April 2022 to 5.33 percent in August 2023. The rate remained unchanged for over a year, before the Federal Reserve initiated its first rate cut in nearly three years in September 2024, bringing the rate to 5.13 percent. By December 2024, the rate was cut to 4.48 percent, signaling a shift in monetary policy in the second half of 2024. The first rate cut in 2025 then set the rate at 4.33 percent. What is the federal funds effective rate? The U.S. federal funds effective rate determines the interest rate paid by depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, that lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight. Changing the effective rate in times of crisis is a common way to stimulate the economy, as it has a significant impact on the whole economy, such as economic growth, employment, and inflation. Central bank policy rates The adjustment of interest rates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a coordinated global effort. In early 2020, central banks worldwide implemented aggressive monetary easing policies to combat the economic crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve's dramatic reduction of its federal funds rate - from 1.58 percent in February 2020 to 0.05 percent by April - mirrored similar actions taken by central banks globally. While these low rates remained in place throughout 2021, mounting inflationary pressures led to a synchronized tightening cycle beginning in 2022, with central banks pushing rates to multi-year highs. By mid-2024, as inflation moderated across major economies, central banks began implementing their first rate cuts in several years, with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and European Central Bank all easing monetary policy.