BNPL to reach 7.7% of APAC e-commerce payments by 2028

Australia and New Zealand currently lead the BNPL adoption within the region.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) transactions are projected to constitute 7.7% of e-commerce payments in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by 2028, as per GlobalData.

“Buy now pay later (BNPL) has become a popular payment tool in Asia-Pacific (APAC), due to increasing demand for short-term credit coupled with growing consumer preference for online shopping,” the report said.

In 2023, BNPL gained ground across APAC, with transactions accounting for 4.4% of e-commerce payments. It is expected to increase to 5.4% in 2024.

Shivani Gupta, senior banking and payments analyst at GlobalData, attributed BNPL's popularity to factors like consumer awareness and the availability of BNPL service providers.

Australia and New Zealand currently lead the BNPL adoption within the region. In 2023, BNPL solutions accounted for 21.5% of total e-commerce payments in Australia and 11.9% in New Zealand. Other Asian markets like Singapore, India, Indonesia, and Japan are also swiftly embracing these innovative payment solutions.

India, with low credit card penetration, shows significant growth potential for BNPL services, rising from 0.1% of e-commerce sales in 2019 to 5.8% in 2023.

The rise of e-commerce giants like Flipkart and Amazon has further fueled BNPL adoption. These platforms offer pay-later services, allowing consumers to spread their payments over several months. For instance, Amazon's Pay Later option boasted over 8 million customer sign-ups as of December 2023.


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However, concerns regarding BNPL services encouraging impulsive purchases and potential over-indebtedness have prompted regulatory intervention. New Zealand, for instance, proposed regulations in November 2022 to bring BNPL services under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003. 

Despite its current small share of total consumer payments, BNPL adoption is expected to rise in APAC due to evolving consumer habits, merchant acceptance, and government initiatives.