Checkout Integration Weakens Scalapay's Reach
Scalapay
The key shift is that BNPL is moving from a branded destination into a checkout feature that processors and wallets can slot in anywhere. When Klarna shows up inside Apple Pay and Adyen terminals, the shopper completes the installment choice inside surfaces they already trust, so the processor or wallet owns the entry point. That weakens a regional player like Scalapay’s ability to turn a one time installment into repeat app usage, shopper data, and merchant pull.
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Klarna’s scale makes these embedded channels work better for it than for a specialist. Klarna reported 114 million active users globally, availability through Apple Pay in eight countries including France and Italy, and rollout on Adyen’s in store terminals, giving it distribution across existing wallet and processor traffic instead of relying only on direct merchant wins.
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Scalapay still has strong local reach, 4 million active customers, 7,000 merchants, and over $1.5 billion in 2024 transaction volume, but more of its growth is now coming through infrastructure partners like Stripe, PPRO, Cegid, PostePay, and Lendismart. That expands acceptance fast, but it also means the checkout surface is increasingly shared with bigger platforms.
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This is the same dynamic seen across checkout more broadly. Merchants want fewer buttons and less form filling, and the winner tends to be the network that can recognize the shopper across many stores. In that world, owning the merchant relationship is useful, but owning the shopper identity layer is what creates lasting leverage.
The next phase favors BNPL providers that can turn checkout distribution into a full network, with identity, app engagement, cards, ads, and in store acceptance all reinforcing each other. For Scalapay, the path is to use infrastructure partnerships as a wedge, then rebuild direct touchpoints through its app, Club subscription, cards, and offline acceptance before embedded BNPL becomes fully interchangeable.