Google Pay is expanding its buy now, pay later (BNPL) options with the addition of Afterpay and Klarna.
Afterpay’s BNPL is now available to consumers checking out online through Google Pay at select merchants, the BNPL provider said in a Tuesday (Nov. 19) press release.
Wider availability of Afterpay on the digital wallet will be expanded to more merchants in the coming months, according to the release.
“Afterpay’s integration with Google Pay comes at the perfect time as next-gen shoppers are fueling mainstream use of BNPL, mobile commerce and digital wallet use,” Tanuj Parikh, head of global partnerships, Afterpay and Cash App, said in the release.
Klarna will be available to Google Pay users in the United States in 2025, the BNPL provider said in a Tuesday press release.
At checkout, these users will be able to choose Klarna’s interest-free installments on purchases starting at $35, along with financing options with competitive APRs, according to the release.
“Together with Google, we’re making it easier than ever for millions of shoppers to choose Klarna, empowering consumers to shop confidently with a smarter, more transparent way to pay right at their fingertips,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in the release.
Google Pay Senior Director Drew Olson said in the two press releases that partnerships with BNPL providers like Afterpay and Klarna offer Google Pay users more payment options at checkout and give merchants another tool to drive growth.
“People shop on Google more than a billion times per day, and consumers are increasingly looking for more choice and flexibility when it comes to payment options,” Olson said.
Many shoppers make decisions about where to buy based on whether they can use their preferred payment method, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: The False Appeal of Deal-Chasing Consumers.”
The report found that, when buying non-grocery retail products, 16% of consumers cited the ability to use their preferred payment methods as being among the factors that influenced their decision of where to make their most recent purchase.
Individuals shopping on Google are demanding more choice at checkout as they grow more familiar with BNPL as a favored form of credit, Olson told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in December 2023.
“Whatever calculus the user performs to determine the payment methods that they want to use, they want more options across more merchants,” Olson said.
