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New research from Adobe Analytics reveals that online purchases of groceries and home furnishings are growing at a rapid clip, and BNPL is a key driver of this trend. BNPL adoption has really taken off since the pandemic, which shifted a lot of shopping activity to the online channel.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported that between 2019 and 2021, the number of BNPL loans originated in the U.S. by the top five BNPL firms grew 970 percent.
During that same period, the dollar value of BNPL loans ballooned from $2 billion to $24.2 billion. Juniper Research estimated global consumer spending using BNPL platforms will reach $437 billion in 2027, or 291 percent more than global spending on BNPL platforms in 2022.
This growth, Juniper stated in a press release, "will be driven by escalating financial pressures from the rising cost of living, increasing demand for cheap credit solutions." According to J.D. Power's analysis, 22 percent of Americans were using BNPL in January 2023, up from 18 percent in October 2022.
Block, the company formerly known as Square, faces damning accusations, as short seller Hindenburg Research said the company was its latest short position. In a March 23 report Hindenburg alleged Block plays fast and loose with anti-money laundering rules, resulting in rampant criminal activity on the network.
It also claimed the company "wildly overstates" its cash app user base, calling into question the company's performance. It also alleged that Block takes advantage of small businesses that are generally underserved by banks and payments services providers. Hindenburg conducted a two-year investigation that included interviews with former employees, partners and industry experts.
The firm also reviewed regulatory and litigation records, as well as government records requests. The picture that emerged was of a company that "has systematically taken advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping," the report stated.
FIDO Alliance held a virtual conference, March 29, 2023, to assess recent advancements in creating simpler, stronger authentication methods.
Sponsored by Beyond Identity, HYPR, 1Password, Anonybit, descope and Thales, the half-day event included panel discussions and fireside chats with experts from Google, Microsoft, Amazon and leading global brands that support FIDO's (Fast IDentity Online's) mission to create secure, scalable alternatives to passwords. In opening remarks, Andrew Shikiar, executive director of FIDO Alliance, stated that FIDO deployments have helped companies reduce fraud, lower operational costs and boost employee productivity.
He additionally noted that companies are looking at top-line benefits of getting users online faster with greater satisfaction and reduced shopping cart abandonment. "If you are a consumer service provider, imagine increasing your signup rate by 5 percent or even 1 percent," he said. "If you're an ecommerce vendor, imagine reducing shopping cart abandonment rate by even 10 percent."
Recent reports suggest Web3 technology is placing humans at an inflection point in terms of environmental sustainability. In an April 5, 2023, post in Fintech News, "Big Data is the future of the metaverse, in a sustainable way," Zaveria, author at Analytics Insight, suggested the metaverse and Web3 ecosystem could become the foundation and future of the global digital economy.
"When we ponder, 'What is the next great thing in climate adaptation technology?' it is because climate issues now influence everything," she wrote.
"Metaverse and cloud computing are the solutions once more." In a March 2023 white paper published by Bloomberg Law and titled "ESG in the Metaverse: An Opportunity to Rethink Sustainability," Preetha Chakrabarti, Helen Ogunyanwo, Felicia Isaac and Tiffany Aguiar from the law firm Crowell & Moring build a case for using the metaverse as a platform to explore environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles due to its inherently high-speed, high-capacity data consumption requirements. 
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