How To Build A Buy Now Pay Later App Like Zip?

Key Takeaways

• People can now use BNPL apps that let them pay for their purchases in smaller parts instead of paying the whole amount at once.
• A good BNPL platform should have quick credit decisions and smooth repayment management to give a better experience to the users.
• There are several models, such as consumer BNPL, embedded financing, or industry-focused solutions, that businesses can choose from based on their target market.
• New platforms can stand out with smarter risk tools, flexible payment plans, and useful merchant features.

These days, people want more flexibility when making larger purchases. Buy now pay later apps give them a simple way to spread payments without paying the full amount upfront. But building a product like Zip is about much more than splitting a purchase into installments. The real challenge is creating a system that can approve transactions quickly while keeping the financial side under control. 

A successful BNPL product needs to make the payment experience feel effortless while handling complex financial decisions in the background. We’ve built BNPL solutions using AI-driven credit risk assessment and real-time payment processing, which gives us practical insight into how these platforms need to work at scale. In this blog, we’ll break down the key decisions involved in building a buy now pay later app like Zip.

Why Buy Now Pay Later Apps are Booming?

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global buy now pay later market was valued at USD 44.89 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 286.02 billion by 2034, growing at a 23% CAGR. North America held the largest share at 56.1% in 2025. This growth shows that BNPL is becoming more than an installment payment option. It is changing how customers manage purchases and giving businesses another way to improve the checkout experience. 

Source: Fortune Business Insights

Flexible Payment Demand

Customers often hesitate when a purchase feels too expensive to pay for at once. BNPL reduces that friction by giving them a way to spread the payment without leaving the checkout. Platforms such as Affirm show how large this opportunity has become. The company generated $3.22 billion in total revenue in its fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.

What this means for new BNPL products: The opportunity is no longer limited to basic Pay-in-4 plans. Businesses can build around specific customer segments and purchasing needs.

Smaller Payments Appeal

A fixed installment can make a larger purchase easier to plan around. This is especially useful when customers want flexibility without carrying a revolving credit card balance. Klarna has expanded this idea beyond simple installment payments. It reported $3.5 billion in revenue for its 2025 full year and served 118 million active consumers. That growth shows how BNPL can become part of a wider financial ecosystem. A new platform can use the same foundation to offer payments, financing, cards, or other financial services.

Merchant Adoption Is Growing

For merchants, BNPL is not just another payment button. It can give shoppers another reason to complete a purchase when the upfront price feels high. Klarna reported 966,000 merchants on its platform in 2025. That scale highlights the other side of the BNPL opportunity. A successful product needs to solve the merchant’s problem as well as the customer’s.

Why Building a BNPL App Like Zip Is Different From a Payment App?

A payment app mainly moves money from one party to another. A BNPL platform has to decide whether a purchase should happen on credit in the first place. That difference changes the entire product architecture. The platform must balance a smooth checkout with responsible approval, repayment, and risk management.

1. Credit Decisions at Checkout

The customer expects an almost instant answer when choosing BNPL. Behind that simple approval screen, the platform may need to assess the customer’s profile, previous repayment behavior, transaction value, and available spending limit. The scale makes this especially important. 

The CFPB found that more than 60% of BNPL borrowers held multiple BNPL loans at the same time, while about one-third had loans with multiple providers. It also found that consumers with subprime and deep-subprime scores accounted for nearly two-thirds of BNPL originations.

For a Zip-like product, the credit engine therefore needs to do more than approve or reject. It should help determine how much credit to offer and when additional borrowing becomes too risky.

2. Every Purchase Creates Debt

Once a BNPL transaction is approved, the platform is no longer handling a simple payment. It now has to track money that the customer owes over time. The Federal Reserve estimates that BNPL companies issued around $156.3 billion in loans during 2025, including both interest-free and interest-bearing products.

The repayment side becomes even more important when you consider that 26% of BNPL users reported paying late in the Federal Reserve’s 2025 household survey. This means the product needs reliable repayment scheduling from the start. It also needs reminders, failed-payment handling, account updates, and clear visibility into outstanding balances.

3. Merchants Need Fast Settlement

The customer may repay a purchase over several installments, but the merchant still needs a predictable payment process. This creates a two-sided financial workflow that a normal payment app does not have to manage. Zip itself reported $6.0 billion in U.S. transaction volume for its FY25 and had 4.3 million active U.S. customers. In-store transactions accounted for 23% of U.S. transaction volume, showing how BNPL is moving beyond simple online checkout.

For businesses, this means the platform needs more than a customer app. It needs merchant integration, transaction authorization, settlement, reconciliation, refunds, and repayment management working together.

4. Risk Shapes the Architecture 

Risk cannot simply be added after the app has been built. It affects how customer data is collected, how transactions are evaluated, and how repayment information is stored. The regulatory side is also significant. The CFPB describes BNPL as a form of credit and has dedicated compliance resources for BNPL providers. 

Its research also found that BNPL users can carry multiple loans at once, making loan stacking and affordability assessment important considerations for providers. For a new BNPL platform, this means compliance needs to be considered during architecture and product design, not treated as a final checklist before launch.

How Does a Zip-Like BNPL App Work Behind the Checkout?

From the customer’s perspective, using Zip can look like a simple payment choice. Behind that experience, several financial processes happen in sequence. Zip connects the checkout, customer approval, payment authorization, merchant settlement, and repayment cycle into one flow. 

1. Customer Selects BNPL at Checkout

The process starts when a customer chooses Zip as the payment method. Online shoppers can select Zip directly at checkout. They can also use the Zip app to shop through participating retailers. For in-store purchases, customers can create a virtual card or use a physical Zip Card.

For a new BNPL platform, the goal should be to keep this step simple. The customer should not have to go through a long financial application every time they want to make a purchase.

2. Identity and Eligibility Checks

After the customer chooses BNPL, the platform needs enough information to determine whether the transaction can be approved. Zip says shoppers can sign up using their mobile number and basic information. Its merchant checkout can also support pre-qualification before the customer reaches the final payment step.

A Zip-like product can connect this layer with KYC services, account verification, credit data, and internal customer history. The objective is to make the decision quickly while still giving the risk system enough information to assess the transaction.

3. The Risk Engine Approves the Purchase

Approval is not simply a yes-or-no payment response. The platform needs to consider the customer and the specific purchase before making a decision. Zip’s checkout terms state that purchases using its service are subject to credit approval. Its current customer experience also allows eligible users to gain additional spending power through consistent on-time repayments.

For a new BNPL app, this is where a real-time risk engine becomes important. It can evaluate factors such as purchase value, previous repayment behavior, available spending power, and transaction risk before authorizing the order.

4. The Merchant Gets Paid

Once the transaction is approved, the merchant should not have to wait for the customer to finish all installments. Zip’s business offering states that merchants get paid upfront while customers repay over time. Its current options include Pay in 2, Pay in 4, and Pay in 8. This creates an important backend responsibility. The platform must keep track of the amount owed by the customer while also maintaining accurate records for the merchant settlement.

Zip’s FY26 numbers show the scale involved. Its platform processed $16.7 billion in transaction volume across 97,400 merchants.

5. The Customer Gets a Repayment Plan

After approval, the customer sees the payment schedule before completing the purchase. Zip’s standard Pay in 4 option divides the purchase into four payments over six weeks, with payments automatically collected every two weeks from the linked card. The platform then needs to maintain that schedule throughout the transaction lifecycle. It should track upcoming payments and send reminders when needed. Zip also allows eligible customers to change payment dates through its app.

6. Repayments Are Collected and Reconciled

The final stage continues long after checkout. The platform needs to collect each installment and update the customer’s outstanding balance. It also has to account for failed payments, refunds, cancellations, and merchant adjustments. Zip’s customer agreement explains that refunds can be applied against the customer’s outstanding balance. 

If the refund is greater than the amount owed, the difference can be returned to the customer’s original payment method. For a Zip-like platform, this means the repayment engine should be treated as a core financial system, not just another app feature. 

How To Build A Buy Now Pay Later App Like Zip?

Building a BNPL product requires more than developing a customer-facing app. The important work happens behind the checkout, where credit decisions, payments, repayments, and merchant transactions need to work together. A Zip-like platform is a good example because its flow connects online and in-store purchases with instant payment-plan selection and repayment management.

1. Validate BNPL Business Model First

Start by deciding who the platform will serve and how it will make money. A consumer-first product will need a different infrastructure from a merchant-focused checkout solution or a white-label BNPL service. Look at the purchase size, target customers, merchant categories, repayment model, and expected transaction volume before defining the MVP. This also helps determine whether you should build your own credit engine or use third-party financial services.

2. Map Customer and Merchant Money Flow

Before development starts, map what happens to the money from the moment a customer chooses BNPL until the final installment is collected. Zip provides a useful reference. Its merchant model allows the merchant to get paid upfront while the customer pays in installments. Its current U.S. offering includes Pay in 2, Pay in 4, and Pay in 8.

Your architecture should clearly define how authorization, merchant settlement, customer repayments, refunds, and reconciliation move through the system.

3. Build Credit Decisioning Layer

The credit decision is one of the most important parts of a BNPL platform. The system needs to determine whether a customer can use BNPL for a specific transaction and what spending limit makes sense. You can start with a third-party decisioning provider and build your own orchestration around it. This can reduce the scope of an MVP. As your platform collects more repayment data, you can develop more sophisticated risk models and limit-setting rules.

4. Connect Payments and Repayment Infrastructure

Your BNPL app needs reliable payment infrastructure on both sides of the transaction. Customers need a simple way to make installments while merchants need predictable settlement. Zip’s Pay in 4 model splits purchases into four payments over six weeks, with payments automatically collected every two weeks.

The backend should therefore handle payment authorization, scheduled debits, failed-payment retries, reminders, refunds, and balance updates. A reliable transaction ledger is also essential for keeping customer and merchant records consistent.

5. Design MVP Around Real Transactions

Don’t try to recreate every feature Zip has on the first release. Build around the smallest transaction flow that can prove your business model.

A practical MVP could cover:

• Customer registration and verification
• BNPL eligibility checks
• Payment-plan selection
• Merchant checkout
• Installment scheduling
• Automatic repayments
• Transaction history
• Refund handling
• Basic merchant and admin dashboards

Zip’s own checkout experience shows how much can happen behind a simple payment choice. Its API creates a checkout session with customer and order information before directing the shopper through the Zip payment flow.

6. Add Security and Compliance

BNPL involves financial and personal data, so security cannot be treated as a final development task. Build identity verification, access controls, encryption, audit trails, and payment-data protection into the architecture from the beginning. Compliance requirements will depend on your target market and business model. In the U.S., BNPL products can involve requirements around consumer credit, KYC/AML, payment security, and state-level financial regulations.

This is also where your legal and compliance requirements can influence which APIs you use and which parts of the financial stack you control.

7. Test the Platform Before Scaling It

Testing a BNPL app means testing more than screens and APIs. The team needs to verify what happens when a payment fails, a customer receives a refund, a transaction is disputed, or a repayment is made early. Performance testing is equally important. A platform that works with a few test transactions may behave very differently when multiple customers are checking out at the same time. Build monitoring and transaction alerts into the system before opening it to a larger merchant network.

What Should a Zip-Like BNPL MVP Handle From Day One?

A BNPL MVP should first prove that customers can complete a purchase and manage repayments without friction. Zip is a useful benchmark because it connects the key parts of this journey in one platform. For a new business, the focus should be on getting these core flows right before investing in advanced features. This approach also helps reduce the initial development cost while giving you room to improve the product with real customer data.

1. Customer Onboarding and KYC

The first step should be quick enough that customers do not abandon the process. Zip lets shoppers sign up using a mobile number and basic information. Its online checkout can also support pre-qualification before the final payment step. A new BNPL app should connect this experience with identity verification and KYC checks. The goal is to collect enough information for a responsible decision without turning registration into a lengthy application.

2. Eligibility and Spending Limits

Approval should depend on more than whether a customer has created an account. A BNPL platform needs to determine whether the customer is eligible for the specific purchase. Zip says new customers typically start with around $200 in estimated spending power. Customers can become eligible for higher spending power through consistent repayment behavior.

This creates an important MVP requirement. The platform should have a basic eligibility and limit-management engine from the beginning. More advanced AI-based decisioning can be introduced as the platform collects more transaction and repayment data.

3. BNPL Checkout and Authorization

The checkout should make choosing installments feel like selecting any other payment method. Zip supports online and in-store purchases. Its in-store flow allows customers to enter the purchase amount in the app and select a payment plan before paying with a virtual or physical Zip card.

For online purchases, Zip can appear directly at checkout. Its platform also supports integrations through ecommerce and payment platforms such as Shopify, Magento, Adyen, and Stripe.

For an MVP, this means the payment layer should support authorization, merchant confirmation, and transaction status updates without adding unnecessary checkout steps.

4. Installment Plan Management

Once a purchase is approved, the customer needs a clear view of what they owe and when each payment is due. Zip’s standard Pay in 4 plan divides a purchase into four payments over six weeks. Its business platform also supports Pay in 2 and Pay in 8. Your MVP should therefore have a repayment engine that can create schedules, update balances, and show upcoming payments. Zip also lets eligible customers change payment dates, giving another example of how flexibility can become part of the product experience.

5. Automatic Repayments and Reminders

Repayment should not depend entirely on customers remembering each due date. Zip automatically collects payments from the linked debit or credit card every two weeks for its Pay in 4 product. It also sends advance notifications to help customers avoid missed payments.

For an MVP, this means you need scheduled payment processing, reminders, failed-payment handling, and balance updates. These functions become especially important as transaction volume grows. Zip processed 112.1 million transactions during FY26.

6. Transaction and Order History

Customers should be able to see where they used BNPL and how much they still owe. Zip allows users to manage purchases and payment plans through its app. Its current experience also covers online and in-store spending from the same account. For a new platform, transaction history should show the purchase amount, merchant, payment status, installments, remaining balance, and relevant refunds. This also gives your support team a reliable record when customers have questions about a transaction.

7. Refunds, Failed Payments, and Disputes

A BNPL platform cannot treat a completed purchase as the end of the transaction. Refunds and failed payments need to update both the customer’s repayment schedule and the merchant’s records. Zip’s customer agreement explains that refunds can be applied to an outstanding balance. If the refund is greater than the remaining amount owed, the excess can be returned to the original payment method.

This makes refund reconciliation and failed-payment workflows important MVP capabilities rather than features to add later.

8. Customer Support and Account Management

BNPL customers are dealing with financial obligations, so support needs to be easy to access. The app should allow users to review their account, understand payment issues, manage linked payment methods, and get help when something goes wrong. For an MVP, focus on the basics first: account settings, payment-method management, transaction questions, repayment issues, and support requests.

Which APIs Do You Need to Build a BNPL App Like Zip?

A BNPL platform depends on several external services working together. The exact integrations will depend on your market and business model. Zip’s own developer documentation shows how deeply APIs can connect into the checkout and payment flow. Its integration can pass customer and order information, create a checkout, receive an approval response, and then complete the charge.

1. Payment Gateway and Processor APIs

These APIs handle the actual movement of money. They connect your BNPL platform with cards, bank payments, digital wallets, and other supported methods. Zip’s API supports separate authorization and capture flows. This gives merchants control over when a transaction is finalized and when funds are released. A Zip-like product should also support refunds and transaction status updates so the payment layer stays synchronized with the order system.

2. KYC and Identity Verification APIs

A BNPL platform needs to know who is applying before it approves access to credit. KYC APIs can verify customer information and help detect suspicious identities during onboarding. The integration can be triggered when a user creates an account or when additional verification is needed for a transaction. This keeps the onboarding process simple while giving the risk system the information it needs.

3. Credit Bureau and Scoring APIs

Credit APIs provide information that can help assess a customer’s ability to repay. Your platform can use this data alongside its own transaction and repayment history. For a Zip-like product, the important part is not simply receiving a credit score. The system should turn available information into a practical decision such as approve, decline, review, or adjust the spending limit.

4. Open Banking APIs

Open Banking APIs can connect a BNPL platform with customer-permissioned financial information. Depending on the market, this can help verify accounts or provide additional information for affordability and risk assessment. This can become particularly useful when the platform wants to move beyond basic credit data. Instead of relying on one signal, the risk engine can work with a broader view of the customer’s financial profile.

5. Bank-Account Verification APIs

These APIs help confirm that a customer’s bank account is valid and belongs to the right person. They can also support payment setup where bank-based repayments are part of the product. For an MVP, this integration can reduce manual verification and make it easier to connect a reliable repayment method before the first transaction.

6. Fraud Detection and Monitoring APIs

A BNPL platform needs to evaluate transaction risk before approving a purchase. Fraud APIs can look for unusual patterns such as suspicious devices, account behavior, transaction velocity, or inconsistent customer information. The important part is connecting these signals to the approval engine. A transaction that passes basic eligibility checks may still need to be declined when the fraud risk is too high.

7. Merchant and eCommerce APIs

Merchant APIs connect the BNPL platform with stores and online marketplaces. They can pass product details, order values, customer information, and transaction status between systems. Zip’s API uses a checkout request that contains customer details and order information before sending the shopper through the Zip checkout flow. Zip also provides integrations for platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce.

For a new BNPL platform, these integrations should also support settlements, refunds, order updates, and reconciliation.

8. SMS, Email, and Push APIs

Communication APIs keep customers informed throughout the repayment journey. They can send verification codes, approval updates, payment reminders, and failed-payment alerts. This may seem like a smaller part of the platform, but it directly affects repayment behavior. A well-designed BNPL product should make it easy for customers to know what they owe and when the next payment is due.

How Much Does It Cost to Build a BNPL App Like Zip?

The cost of a BNPL app depends heavily on how much financial infrastructure you want to build from the start. A simple MVP can rely on third-party services, while a full-scale platform like Zip needs deeper risk systems, merchant tools, payment infrastructure, and compliance capabilities. 

Zip-Like BNPL MVP Development Cost

A practical MVP can cost around $30,000–$80,000 when you use third-party providers for services such as KYC, payments, credit checks, and parts of the lending infrastructure. This can cover the customer app, basic merchant integration, admin dashboard, eligibility checks, installment management, and repayment tracking.

Product level	Estimated cost	Typical scope
Lean MVP	$30,000–$80,000	Customer app, basic KYC, Pay-in-4, repayment tracking, basic admin
Custom BNPL Platform	$80,000–$180,000	Merchant portal, multiple payment plans, risk rules, APIs, analytics
Advanced BNPL Platform	$180,000–$400,000+	AI risk scoring, fraud detection, virtual cards, advanced merchant tools
Enterprise BNPL Ecosystem	$400,000–$1M+	Proprietary infrastructure, multi-market compliance, advanced underwriting, large merchant network

If you want a more customized risk engine or several merchant integrations from the beginning, the budget can move toward $80,000–$100,000+.

Customer, Merchant, and Admin Platforms

Building only the customer app keeps the scope smaller. A complete BNPL product needs separate interfaces for customers, merchants, and internal teams. A reasonable estimate is $15,000–$30,000 for the customer experience, $15,000–$35,000 for merchant tools, and $8,000–$20,000 for the admin platform. The final figure depends on whether these are built as mobile apps, web dashboards, or both.

Financial API Integration Costs

Third-party integrations can add $5,000–$20,000+ to development depending on how many services are connected and how deeply they interact with your backend. Payment processing, KYC, credit data, Open Banking, bank verification, notifications, and fraud services can all require separate integrations. The development cost is only part of the expense because many providers also charge usage or monthly fees. 

Current fintech development estimates put API and infrastructure expenses at anywhere from hundreds to several thousand dollars per month, depending on usage and providers.

Credit and Fraud Infrastructure

Basic eligibility rules can be relatively inexpensive. A more advanced decisioning system with proprietary scoring, transaction monitoring, fraud detection, and automated risk models requires considerably more work. Budget around $15,000–$40,000 for a solid risk and fraud layer.

An AI-driven underwriting system can push this beyond $50,000 depending on the data models, integrations, and level of automation required. Current industry estimates identify underwriting and risk as one of the largest cost areas in a production BNPL platform.

Security and Compliance

Security should be planned from the beginning rather than added after development. Costs can include KYC/AML workflows, encryption, access controls, audit logs, PCI-related work, security testing, and compliance reviews. For development and technical implementation, a reasonable range is $10,000–$30,000+. 

Broader legal, licensing, audit, and regulatory expenses can be considerably higher and should be budgeted separately. Some current fintech estimates place compliance and security work at $10,000–$25,000 or more depending on the product and market.

Post-Launch Maintenance and Scaling

Launching the app is not the end of the investment. Your platform will need monitoring, bug fixes, API updates, cloud infrastructure, security updates, and ongoing improvements. A reasonable starting budget is around $3,000–$10,000 per month for maintenance and technical support. 

Larger platforms with significant transaction volumes, compliance operations, and risk infrastructure can spend considerably more. Current BNPL cost estimates put monthly operating expenses anywhere from $1,500 to $32,000+, depending on the platform’s maturity and infrastructure.

What Can Make Your BNPL Product Different From Zip?

Building another Pay-in-4 product may not be enough to stand out. Zip already has 6.5 million active customers and 97,400 merchants, so a new platform needs a clear reason for customers or businesses to choose it. The strongest differentiation usually comes from solving a specific customer or merchant problem better than existing BNPL platforms.

BNPL Around a Specific Merchant Vertical

A focused BNPL product can solve problems that a broad platform may not address deeply. You could build around healthcare, education, travel, automotive, or home improvement where purchase values and repayment needs are different. There is room for this approach. Zip’s U.S. transaction volume reached $8.6 billion in FY26, with health, education, auto, and transport among its fastest-growing categories.

A vertical product could offer industry-specific payment plans and merchant tools instead of trying to serve every type of purchase.

Offer More Flexible Repayment Options

Pay-in-4 is familiar, but customers do not always have the same repayment needs. A platform could offer shorter plans for smaller purchases and longer schedules for higher-value transactions. Zip has already moved beyond a single repayment model with Pay-in-2, Pay-in-4, and Pay-in-8. Its Pay-in-2 option recorded an 86% quarter-over-quarter increase in transactions during Q4 FY26.

This suggests that repayment flexibility can become a product differentiator when it matches different spending situations.

Use AI for Personalized Risk Decisions

AI can make the approval process more adaptive. Instead of applying the same rules to every customer, the platform can evaluate transaction patterns and repayment behavior to make more informed decisions. Zip says AI is already being used across areas such as underwriting, collections, compliance, and customer experience. 

Its U.S. credit losses were 1.67% of transaction volume in Q4 FY26, within its stated 1.5%–2% target range. A new BNPL product could use AI to improve spending limits, detect unusual transactions, and identify changes in repayment risk.

Give Merchants Better Conversion Insights

Merchants should get more than another payment button. Your platform could show which products are generating BNPL conversions and where customers drop off during checkout. Zip had 97,400 merchants on its platform at the end of FY26 and processed 112.1 million transactions during the year.

A competing platform could differentiate through deeper merchant analytics. Think of tools that help businesses understand BNPL adoption, average order value, repeat purchases, and customer behavior.

Virtual Cards and Broader Payment Access

A BNPL product does not have to remain limited to partner checkout pages. Virtual cards can allow customers to use their available spending power across a wider range of merchants. Zip’s U.S. business has been expanding its in-store and open-loop payment capabilities. In-store transaction volume grew 67% in FY26 and represented 27% of U.S. transaction volume.

For a new product, virtual cards can therefore become a way to expand merchant acceptance without requiring a separate integration for every purchase.

Financial-Health Tools Around Repayment

A BNPL platform can also differentiate by helping customers manage their spending rather than simply encouraging more purchases. Features could include repayment forecasts, spending summaries, upcoming-payment alerts, and affordability insights. This addresses a real user need. The Federal Reserve found that 26% of BNPL users reported making a late payment, while 11% said a BNPL payment triggered an overdraft or insufficient-funds fee.

A product that helps customers understand upcoming obligations could build stronger trust while reducing repayment problems.

Which BNPL Model Fits the Business You Want to Build?

There is no single way to build a BNPL platform. The right model depends on who owns the customer relationship, who manages the merchant network, and how much of the financial infrastructure you want to control. Choosing this early can also shape your development cost, technology stack, and long-term scalability.

1. Consumer-First BNPL Like Zip

This model puts the customer relationship at the center. Users create an account, receive a spending limit, shop with participating merchants, and manage their repayments through the BNPL app. Zip is a strong example. The company reported $6.0 billion in U.S. transaction volume in FY25. It had 4.3 million active U.S. customers during the same period.

For this model, your platform needs a strong customer app. It also needs credit decisioning, payment processing, repayment management, fraud controls, and merchant connections behind it.

Best suited for: fintech startups that want to own the customer relationship and build a recognizable financial brand.

2. Merchant-Integrated BNPL

Here, BNPL becomes part of the merchant’s existing checkout. Customers do not necessarily need to discover your app first. They encounter your financing option while shopping. Affirm follows this approach across a large merchant network. It reported $3.2 billion in revenue and $36.7 billion in GMV for fiscal 2025.

The infrastructure needs to focus heavily on merchant APIs and checkout integrations. Approval should happen without taking the customer away from the purchase flow.

Best suited for: businesses that want to grow through merchant partnerships and checkout volume.

3. Embedded BNPL for eCommerce

Embedded BNPL takes the merchant-integrated idea further. Instead of building separate financing journeys for every merchant, the platform can provide APIs and infrastructure that eCommerce platforms or payment providers can embed into their own products. Klarna is a useful example of this broader model. It generated $3.5 billion in revenue in 2025 and facilitated $127.9 billion in GMV. It also had around 966,000 merchants and 118 million active consumers.

This model requires strong APIs and partner integrations. Your platform also needs reliable underwriting, payment orchestration, merchant reporting, and settlement infrastructure.

Best suited for: fintech companies and infrastructure providers that want their BNPL capabilities distributed through other platforms.

4. Vertical BNPL for Specific Industries

A vertical model focuses on one type of purchase instead of trying to serve every customer. The financing experience can then be designed around the needs of that industry. Tabby provides an interesting regional example. It has expanded beyond basic checkout financing into broader shopping and financial services across the Middle East. Its Saudi BNPL business reported $378 million in revenue for 2025.

A vertical BNPL platform could focus on areas such as healthcare, education, travel, automotive, or home improvement. The product can then adapt its repayment options and merchant tools around the purchase value and customer journey.

Best suited for: businesses that understand a specific industry and want to solve a financing problem that general BNPL platforms may not address well.

5. White-Label BNPL Infrastructure

A white-label model allows another company to offer BNPL under its own brand while your platform provides the technology underneath. The end customer may never know which company built the underlying infrastructure. ChargeAfter is an example of this infrastructure-focused approach. Its platform connects merchants with multiple lenders and provides embedded financing across online and in-store points of sale.

This model requires a different architecture. The focus shifts toward APIs, lender connectivity, decisioning, merchant onboarding, transaction orchestration, and reporting rather than building a large consumer-facing app.

Best suited for: banks, fintechs, lenders, marketplaces, and businesses that already have customers but want to add BNPL without building the entire financial system themselves.

Why Choose Idea Usher to Build Your BNPL App Like Zip?

Building a BNPL platform requires more than developing an app interface. It needs the right financial workflows and a backend that can support growth. With 500,000+ hours of coding experience and a team that includes ex-MAANG and ex-FAANG developers, Idea Usher can help turn a BNPL concept into a scalable product. 

End-to-End BNPL Development

We can build the complete BNPL ecosystem across customer, merchant, and admin platforms. This keeps the core workflows connected and gives you greater control over the product experience. Each layer can be designed around the specific needs of your customers and merchant network.

Financial API Integration Expertise

From payment gateways to KYC and credit services, we can integrate the financial APIs your product needs. The focus is on creating a smooth flow between checkout, approval, payment, and repayment. This also helps reduce unnecessary development time when reliable third-party infrastructure is available.

Risk and Security-Focused Architecture

BNPL platforms handle sensitive financial information and credit decisions. Our development approach focuses on building secure infrastructure with fraud controls, access management, data protection, and risk workflows built into the product architecture. This gives the platform a stronger foundation for handling growing transaction volumes and regulatory requirements.

Conclusion

Building a buy now pay later app as Zip starts with getting the core payment experience right. The goal should be to make purchasing simple for customers while giving the business enough control over risk and repayments. A focused MVP can help validate the idea before you invest in more advanced features. With the right technology partner, you can build a BNPL product that is ready to grow with your customer and merchant base.

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