BNPL software is not limited to helping only customers to buy their stuff and pay over time. It has also become a favorable payment option for small businesses. Yes, just like BNPL for customers, there are B2B Buy Now Pay Later platforms. In fact, recent news reads,
Fintech startups are offering B2B BNPL solutions to companies in an attempt to secure a slice of a $700 billion industry that gives short-term loans.
The BNPL B2B revolution has already started!
German-based fintech Billie and Mondu are approaching the BNPL business model through the B2B BNPL lens, offering services for small businesses. For example, small businesses can have a similar experience when purchasing office equipment as a fashionista would when buying a Chanel quilted bag using Afterpay or Klarna.
Revealing insights, the co-founder of Sequoia-backed Billie says,
“If a typical transaction on business-to-consumer BNPL is about 80-to-90 euros, our typical transactions are about 10 times that size.”
Mondu’s founder, on the other hand, states,
“We believe there’s a $200 billion BNPL market opportunity for B2B BNPL just in Europe and the U.S.”
B2B BNPL platforms offer finance for small businesses to keep their cash flow running smoothly. And looking at the situation arising in the world economy, Buy Now Pay Later B2B solutions will be a boon for them.
Since it is Fintech = Finance + Technology, the success of a BNPL software (irrespective of B2B or B2C) depends heavily on the Technology Stack!
If you are considering getting into this soon-to-be trillion $ market, you need to be careful while selecting technology. Because choosing the right BNPL app tech stack means effective programming. Effective programming leads to high productivity. High productivity yields a maintainable codebase and fewer bugs. Easy to maintain codebase and fewer bugs means faster delivery.
Consequently, you can market your app and scale faster at a low cost, as with development hours, the cost will be reduced, too.
Don’t worry if you heard it for the first time. We will get you acquainted with this technical jargon. As a bonus, you will learn to make informed decisions about technology to use in your BNPL app development.
What does a Technology Stack for BNPL App Development include?
You don’t take a Knife to a Gun Fight!
Suppose the technology stack is an arsenal. Instead of weapons, it contains a set of technologies to program the BNPL application. From a platform-specific programming language, app development framework, and UI/UX software, IDE to project management tools, everything comes under Technology Stack.
Now when considering technology stack for B2B BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) app development, it’s crucial to evaluate factors such as development speed, performance, user experience, platform compatibility, and the specific requirements of your application.
Let us check out what options you have for choosing the underlying technology stack to build a B2B BNPL application.
Native Development:
Native development refers to using platform-specific technologies, such as Swift and Objective-C for iOS and Java or Kotlin for Android. When it comes to the highest level of performance, platform integration, and access to device-specific features, nothing can beat Native development. However, the development approach also has some disadvantages. Let’s analyze native development for B2B BNPL app development:
Why Native App Development:
- Maximum performance: Native apps typically offer the best performance since they leverage the full capabilities of the underlying platform.
- Complete platform integration: Native development allows seamless integration with platform-specific features, APIs, and SDKs.
- Native UI: With native development, you have full control over the UI, enabling you to create pixel-perfect designs and utilize platform-specific UI components.
Native App Development’s Limitation:
- Development time and cost: Developing and maintaining separate codebases for iOS and Android can be time-consuming and costly.
- Platform expertise: Native development requires specialized knowledge in platform-specific languages, frameworks, and tools.
- Code duplication: Maintaining two separate codebases can lead to code duplication and increased effort for bug fixes and feature updates.
Native app development is one approach to building your B2B BNPL application but not the only one. If you don’t want to spend the money and time on building and maintaining two different apps, there is another option– Cross-platform app development.
The cross-platform approach lets you build apps for the web, Android, and iOS devices, shedding your sweat only once.
So, let us check out renowned technology that allows you to build a high-performing B2B BNPL cross-platform app.
Flutter:
Flutter is, as we put it, Google’s brainchild and a marvelous cross-platform framework that lets you build beautiful native apps. Its capability of platform support has grown from iOS and Android devices to the web, Linux, Microsoft, and macOS. That means you can build apps for all these devices by writing your code in Flutter for once.
But should you use Flutter to build your B2B BNPL application? Let’s see its Pros and Cons for the same.
Why use Flutter for a B2B BNPL platform:
- Faster development: Flutter’s hot-reload feature enables rapid development cycles and may reduce your B2B BNPL app development time and effort.
- Single codebase: You can write code once and use it for multiple platforms, including the web, iOS, and Android. This way, you can enhance your customer touchpoint across different platforms, saving cost and time simultaneously.
- Native-like performance: Despite being a cross-platform framework, Flutter has surpassed its competitors in providing native-like performance. That’s because Flutter uses a rendering engine to deliver high-performance UI with smooth animations and transitions.
- Rich UI: You want to create a B2B BNPL app with an intuitive user interface and experience, and with Flutter, it’s a breeze. Since Flutter offers a wide range of customizable widgets, you can make your app design visually appealing and responsive, converting more users into loyal clients.
Flutter Limitation:
- Limited third-party libraries: Flutter has a growing ecosystem, but it may not have as many mature libraries and plugins compared to native development.
- Platform-specific features: Sometimes, you may need to use extra plugins or libraries or write new ones using Kotlin/Java for Android and Objective-C for iOS to achieve the platform-specific functionality.
React Native:
React Native, developed by Facebook, is another popular cross-platform framework for mobile app development. It allows you to build apps using JavaScript and a single codebase shared between iOS and Android. Let’s see what it has to offer for B2B BNPL apps.
Consider the following for using React Native in a B2B BNPL app development:
Why use React Native for a B2B BNPL App:
- Code reuse: Similar to Flutter, React Native also enables you to write code once and reuse it across different platforms, increasing development efficiency.
- Large community and ecosystem: React Native has a vast community and an extensive range of libraries and packages available to help you speed up development.
- Hot-reload: Another similarity between Flutter and React Native is a hot-reload feature that accelerates development cycles.
- Native components: React Native offers a bridge that allows you to access native components if you need to utilize platform-specific features.
React Native Limitation:
- Performance limitations: Although React Native aims to provide native-like performance, it may not match the performance of purely native apps, especially for complex or resource-intensive applications.
- UI customization: While React Native provides a wide range of UI components, achieving highly customized UI may require additional effort compared to native development.
- Platform dependencies: Sometimes, platform-specific features may require additional native code integration, which can add complexity to the development process.
Comparative Analysis of Technology Stacks:
After a snapshot of Native and cross-platform app development technologies, it’s time to compare them side-by-side. Your job is to analyze which tech excels where according to your platform’s priority. Let’s delve into it, shall we?
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Technology Stack for BNPL App:
So far, you understood a couple of underlying technologies and approaches to create a B2B BNPL application. Now, let us discuss what you should keep in mind while selecting a technology stack to build a secured and engaging Buy Now Pay Later B2B application.
Factors to consider for choosing the right tech stack for B2B BNPL:
Assess your Business Needs and Goals:
Every business, even in the same market, differs in terms of its goals and visions. Your vision might be to help only small businesses with BNPL services. While your competitors with similar services may focus on assisting consumers through partnering with eCommerce platforms.
So, based on your vision, the suitable technology stack for BNPL App development may vary. But you can find the right technology stack by taking the help of a BNPL app development expert.
App complexity and features:
You see in the technology comparison that every tech has its limitations and capabilities. Hence, you need to evaluate if the chosen tech stack can handle the desired features and complexity level of your BNPL app. For example, payment processing, user authentication, data analytics, and integrations with third-party systems.
Scalability and customization options:
Now you start up your B2B BNPL business. Soon it may become famous as it’s a hot method to get finance nowadays. At that time, if your app is not scalable enough, it might crash down. You may also lose your loyal customer because of poor security or performance.
Therefore, it is crucial to look into the scalability aspect of your chosen technology stack for BNPL app. Is it capable of handling increasing user demands and future growth? Will it allow you to customize your app according to the market trends and your business requirements?
Security and compliance requirements:
No business, small or big, will conduct any financial transaction on a platform if they are skeptical about the security. That said, you need to win their trust and convince them your platform is the safest. How would you do that?
Ensure that your tech stack has robust security measures to protect sensitive customer data and comply with relevant regulations. For example, if the tech stack adheres to PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) or GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
Development time and cost:
Another crucial aspect of your B2B BNPL business is time and cost. Research the time and cost of fintech app development for the chosen tech stack. You also must consider factors like the availability of skilled developers, code reusability, development tools, and the potential need for platform-specific expertise.
Integration capabilities:
Your business may require you to use other software for different processes. In that case, assess if the tech stack’s ability to integrate with essential systems and services matches your business software.
For example, would you be able to integrate payment gateways, accounting software, CRM platforms, or APIs from financial institutions to provide seamless and efficient operations within the B2B BNPL ecosystem?
By considering these factors, you can make an informed decision when selecting a tech stack for your B2B BNPL app.
Recommending the Right Technology Stack for B2B Buy Now Pay Later Startups:
For a B2B BNPL startup targeting small business owners, it is essential to choose a technology stack that is affordable, easy to use, and flexible. Because plenty of expenses will be there to meet. So, you can use the money you saved on development where there is no option of affordability, for example, regulatory expenses.
Technology Stack Recommendation for B2B BNPL App Development
Mobile App Development:
– Flutter to build cross-platform mobile applications, leveraging code reusability, enabling efficient development for iOS and Android platforms. (You can hire Flutter Developers to create an app with a truly Native look and feel.)
Back-End Development:
– Node.js is an ideal back-end development framework for real-time applications like BNPL. It has an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model and offers scalability, speed, and a vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks.
Database:
– MongoDB, a NoSQL database, for flexibility and scalability. MongoDB’s document-oriented model is ideal for handling diverse and evolving data structures in a BNPL application.
Payment Gateway Integration:
You need to integrate payment gateways to allow businesses to pay back the loan amount without any hassle. You can add Credit and Debit Cards such as Visa and Mastercard or a payment method that your customers might prefer to ensure smooth transactions.
Cloud Infrastructure:
– AWS (Amazon Web Services for cloud infrastructure as it offers a range of services like Amazon EC2 for hosting, Amazon S3 for file storage, and Amazon RDS for managed database hosting. Above all, you receive extensive scalability, reliability, and cost-effective solutions for startups.
Additional Considerations:
– Security: Adhering to industry standards like PCI DSS you must implement robust security measures, including encryption, and secure authentication to protect customer and transaction data.
– Analytics and Reporting: To gather insights on user behavior, transaction patterns, and overall app performance you need to integrate analytics tools like Google Analytics or custom analytics solutions.
This is just a recommended technology stack to create a B2B Buy Now Pay Later for small businesses. Hence, before hiring Fintech app developers, you must consult with an expert to ensure the right tech stack selection.
Are you sure about your B2B BNPL app’s Technology Stack?
It has been quite a long read, isn’t it? With the hope that you learned the fundamentals of the technology stack to build B2B BNPL software, we’ll end this blog here and now.
Though the blog has been a detailed guidance, having questions is obvious. In that case, please feel free to get in touch with our experts for a 1:1 consultation. Being a leading Fintech app development company, our expertise includes BNPL, Invoice Financing, Banking, Credit Scoring, and more trending Fintech products.
So count on us to choose a technology stack for B2B BNPL app that aligns with your business goal, count on us!