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Research Paper | Economics | Volume 15 Issue 3, March 2026 | Pages: 502 - 506 | India
Embedded Finance and BNPL as Catalysts of Financial Empowerment in Global Markets
Abstract: The rise of embedded finance and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services are part of the growing trend towards digital payment and microcredit developments, and they represent an integration of financial services into the ecosystem of e-commerce and other platforms. These services may assist with financial inclusion goals by improving access to low and no credit for both consumers without access to banking services and small businesses. There is much disagreement regarding how BNPL and embedded finance can empower individuals. Some critics contend that these services democratize access to credit, but they create new danger through the potential for consumers to become over-indebted or that financial institutions will abuse consumer data; this raises questions about whether new products provide true ownership or empowerment. This paper evaluates the opportunity for empowerment created through the adoption of embedded finance and BNPL through secondary data sources from the World Bank's Global Findex, Worldpay's Global Payments Report 2025, the IMF's Financial Access Survey and the Statista database. Data analyses include a range of comparative market analyses used to determine whether improvements from BNPL adoption provide any measureable improvements to financial inclusion, credit penetration or participation in the small business market. The results of this research will provide a basis for conclusions about how digital credit products can provide more equitable financial inclusion than relying on the taste of immediate gratification or creating products intended solely for short-term consumption.
Keywords: Embedded finance, BNPL, financial inclusion, digital empowerment, economic self-sufficiency
How to Cite?: Bhushan Bhegade, "Embedded Finance and BNPL as Catalysts of Financial Empowerment in Global Markets", Volume 15 Issue 3, March 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 502-506, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26305113827, DOI: https://dx.dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26305113827