Payment Expert shines a spotlight on the buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers transforming the trillion-dollar commercial financing market by expanding into business lending
The commercial financing market has long felt a lag effect on the payment innovations which have been reshaping the consumer space.
BNPL is one such innovation which has afforded consumers added flexibility in how they pay and when – with zero interest attached. As key players in the market have expanded from start-up roots, so too has their field of influence.
The rise of e-commerce in B2B means many businesses are seeking the same seamless checkout experience they have seen in the consumer space, with digital procurement promising a shift away from manual, long-term trade credit processes.
Deferring costs, interest free, is another benefit of BNPL businesses are looking to leverage, as is the elimination of non-payment risk for merchants.
Below, Payment Expert spotlights 5 BNPL providers expanding into business lending.
1. Affirm
- Founded: 2012
- HQ: San Francisco
- CEO: Max Levchin
Affirm spun out Resolve in 2019 as a dedicated B2B financing arm to deepen its commercial lending exposure. It has since partnered with Amazon Business to extend instalment options to sole proprietor businesses, offering pay-over-time terms of three to 48 months at checkout.
A tie-up with JPMorgan Chase‘s payments unit makes its BNPL options available across the bank’s merchant network. More recently, Affirm agreed exclusive distribution deals with Intuit QuickBooks Payments and Expedia, embedding instalment lending directly into invoicing and travel booking infrastructure in a push into business-adjacent checkout.
Affirm’s model is underpinned by a mix of bank partnerships and capital markets funding, allowing it to originate loans while distributing risk across institutional investors. This structure has enabled it to scale beyond consumer lending into higher-value transactions, though it also exposes the business to funding market conditions and credit performance across different borrower segments.
In the B2B context, its expansion remains focused on sole traders and small businesses, where underwriting can still draw on consumer-style data signals, rather than larger corporates with more complex balance sheets.
2. Billie
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Berlin
- CEO: Matthias Knecht
Founded by the former founders of SME lender Zencap, Billie is a pure-play B2B BNPL provider, purpose-built for business procurement rather than adapted from a consumer product. It uses machine learning-based underwriting to deliver real-time credit decisions at checkout, with merchants paid upfront on shipment while business buyers defer payment for up to 30 days.
Billie has moved aggressively to embed its solution across major payment infrastructure: it integrated with Adyen across Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands in February 2024, and became the first B2B BNPL provider available on Stripe‘s European platform in July 2024. Total funding stands at over $150m, with Klarna and Tencent among its backers.
The company operates a merchant-first model, assuming default risk while relying on a combination of equity funding and debt facilities to finance receivables. Its underwriting is centred on SME transaction data and behavioural signals rather than traditional financial statements, reflecting the need for real-time decisioning at checkout.
Billie’s position sits at the intersection of payments and short-term working capital, embedding financing directly into existing PSP infrastructure rather than operating as a standalone credit provider.
3. Klarna
- Founded: 2005
- HQ: Stockholm
- CEO: Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Klarna’s B2B expansion is driven by ecosystem scale rather than a standalone product. With nearly one million merchants globally and a growing suite of interest-bearing financing products, it has the distribution infrastructure to extend longer-duration credit to business buyers.
Its Fair Financing product – fixed-term, transparent instalment lending designed to compete with revolving credit – saw gross merchandise value (GMV) grow 165% annually as of Q4 2025, with 151,000 merchants offering it. Klarna listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2025 at a $15bn valuation, providing the capital runway to accelerate its US and APAC commercial expansion.
Unlike pure-play B2B providers, Klarna’s approach leverages its existing merchant base and underwriting models developed in the consumer market, gradually extending into higher-value and longer-term credit products. This includes a shift towards interest-bearing financing, reflecting the economics of larger-ticket lending.
Operating across multiple jurisdictions, Klarna also faces increasing regulatory scrutiny around lending practices and consumer protections, which may shape how its B2B offering evolves, particularly where distinctions between consumer and business lending are less clearly defined.
4. Mondu
- Founded: 2021
- HQ: Berlin
- CEO: Malte Huffmann and Philipp Povel
Founded by the co-founders of Latin American e-commerce platform Dafiti, Mondu is a pure-play B2B BNPL provider built from the ground up for business procurement. Its product suite covers invoice payments with net terms of 30 to 90 days, SEPA direct debit, and instalment plans of three to 12 months, with Mondu assuming default and fraud risk on behalf of merchants.
In August 2024, it secured an EMI licence from De Nederlandsche Bank, enabling it to passport services across all EU markets. In December 2025 it secured a €100m ($116m) debt facility from JPMorgan Payments and joined its partner network, giving it access to JPMorgan’s European corporate client base.
Mondu’s model combines regulated payment services with embedded lending, positioning it to control both transaction flow and financing at checkout. Its access to debt funding is critical to scaling receivables financing, while its regulatory status supports expansion across fragmented European markets.
The company is focused on mid-market B2B transactions, where payment terms and invoice financing remain standard, but where digitisation is creating an opportunity to embed credit directly into the purchase flow.
5. Splitit
- Founded: 2012
- HQ: Atlanta
- CEO: Nandan Sheth
Splitit’s B2B pivot is infrastructure-led rather than credit-led. Having transitioned from a consumer BNPL provider to a white-label instalments platform, it allows merchants to embed pay-over-time options directly into their own checkout using the customer’s existing credit card – removing the need for new credit origination or underwriting. The company has identified B2B procurement as a segment underserved by traditional BNPL players, citing the difficulty those providers face in underwriting businesses. Splitit went private in December 2023 following a $50m investment from Motive Partners.
By relying on existing card lines, Splitit avoids balance sheet exposure and the need for underwriting, positioning itself as a payments infrastructure provider rather than a lender. This model shifts credit risk back to issuing banks while enabling merchants to offer instalments without integrating a third-party financing product.
Its role in the stack is therefore closer to orchestration than lending, offering a different route into B2B instalments for merchants unwilling or unable to adopt credit-based BNPL models.
If you are interested in featuring in Payment Expert’s Spotlight series, get in touch with the team today by emailing News Editor Louis Thompsett at [email protected], or Senior Media Sales Executive Annabel Selvadurai at [email protected].
