How we bank, where we bank and who we bank with are changing dramatically. These incredible shifts are being driven by increased customer expectations and the power of disruptive technology to meet them.If evidence were needed for such an assertion, the rise of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) would be a good place to start. Consumers today are used to fast, seamless, personalized experiences from global platforms like Netflix or Amazon. It's an experience that's also expected from banking: an intuitive and embeddable journey through everyday transactions. BNPL provides such an experience.

A series of coordinated smash-and-grab thefts in the San Francisco Bay Area dominated our news feeds at the start of the 2021 holiday season. Dozens of people stormed San Francisco's Louis Vuitton store and a Nordstrom in nearby Walnut Creek, emerging with handfuls of luxury items valued at more than $100,000. These attacks, according to law enforcement, were organized on social media and committed by people who didn't know each other. There is now a digital version of this organized retail theft -- and it is silent, nameless, and faceless -- and it uses a new type of process called BNPL. BNPL (buy now, pay later) is a type of installment loan that lets you make purchases online and pay them off in weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly installments.

The consumer marketplace has been a hot spot for fraud lately. This is due in part to the rise in more digitally focused transactions amid the pandemic and the evolving way we communicate with our banks. We're seeing a rise in fraud risk surrounding applications that are newer to the market, like digital wallets, buy now pay later (BNPL), peer-to-peer (P2P) payments as well as those that have been in the market for a while such as bank transfers and card not present (CNP) payment methods. Consumers are attracted to these methods because they're convenient, meaning it's pivotal to control the rise in fraud risk to reduce customer inconvenience and friction so these more innovative payment methods can keep entering the market. We're seeing these obstacles primarily in industries like retail because the e-commerce space has been a big proponent of CNP payment methods.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services have increased in popularity in recent years and are ready to become a popular mode of financing. Experts claim that demand for BNPL has been accelerating in India for the past three to four years. Further, COVID-19 has boosted its demand. BNPL has now established itself as a more comfortable payment option, reducing borrowers' financial stress by providing no-cost EMIs. Uni Cards, which recently secured $18.5 million in financing, has launched its Uni Pay 1/3rd card. The product aims to enhance the customer experience in the credit card business.