BNPL drives embedded finance as 51% report 25% revenue lift

40% said average order value rose 25% or more in the same survey

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) has become one of the fastest-growing areas of embedded finance, particularly amongst consumer-facing businesses, according to Global Payments' 2026 Trends Report.

Companies report clear commercial gains from offering BNPL at checkout. In a recent survey, 51% of retail-oriented businesses said BNPL increased revenue by at least 25%.

The impact extends to basket size. Thirty-nine per cent of respondents said BNPL lifted average order value by 10% or more, whilst a further 40% reported increases of 25% or more.

Embedded finance refers to the integration of financial services such as payments, lending and insurance into non-financial platforms and websites. 

For businesses, this can change how they access funding and engage customers. 

For example, a small café looking to expand its outdoor seating could obtain a merchant cash advance through its payment processor and repay it via a fixed percentage of daily card takings. 

The same business could also use application programming interfaces (APIs) to offer subscription services, such as regular deliveries of its own coffee blends.

Globally, the embedded finance market reached $92b in total transaction value in 2024, according to Juniper Research. 

The firm expects this to rise to $228b by 2028. Separate survey data shows that 44% of executives say their companies already support an embedded finance solution, whilst another 33% plan to introduce one.

Industry participants point to artificial intelligence as a key driver of recent growth. AI-powered tools enable real-time credit assessment, faster payment processing, improved fraud detection and more personalised financial offers.

From a consumer perspective, embedded finance often appears as bundled options at the point of sale. 

Travel insurance, carbon offsets and trip upgrades have long been offered alongside airline tickets. 

Now, AI can also prompt customers to split payments into instalments. In some cases, data such as items left in an online shopping basket can be used to trigger targeted offers designed to encourage completion of a purchase.

According to the survey, the most common functions business owners expect to shift to embedded tools are real-time fraud detection, cited by 71% of respondents, instant credit decisioning at 59%, and dynamic payment options such as BNPL, also at 59%. 

These capabilities are seen as particularly valuable for enterprise-sized companies.