Last week, three major BNPL providers entered the race to make their installment payments a native part of the agentic shopping experience.
Affirm announced it is supporting Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open-source, payment-agnostic framework designed to enable agent-led payments across platforms. The collaboration allows AI-powered agents to offer pay-over-time options within automated transactions.
“Do you want to split that $112 into 4 interest free payments?”
“Actually, make it 48 interest free payments.”
“No-one's programmed me not to do that, so okay. You'll now be charged in 48 installments of $2.34.”
“Thanks ChatGPT!”
Earlier today, Klarna also announced that it will support Google's AP2, extending its relationship with the company, which already includes integrations with Google Pay, Chrome's autofill feature, and various Google platforms.
Affirm and Klarna now join more than 60 companies including Revolut, Coinbase, PayPal, Etsy, Salesforce, Intuit, American Express, and Mastercard that have pledged to support Google’s broader agentic commerce initiative in time for the holidays.
Meanwhile, Splitit introduced its Agentic Commerce Partner Program, an invite-only pilot aimed at embedding installment payments directly into AI shopping agents. The program allows autonomous agents to present card-linked installment options during checkout, giving AI systems the same pay-later flexibility offered on websites.
Splitit operates differently than Affirm and other traditional BNPL providers. It doesn’t issue new credit to customers and instead uses the available credit on the shopper’s existing credit card to split the purchase into multiple installments. The total amount is pre-authorized on the card, and each month a portion is charged.
BNPL is officially everywhere! First on websites, then in-store, and now part of your AI chatbot conversations.
