🎧 Buy Now Pay Later – the current legal framework.
In this new episode of Alles Legal – Fintech-Recht kompakt, Dana Wondra and Annerton lawyer Florian Lörsch discuss the legal classification and underlying structure of BNPL offerings. Tune in now!
Legal insights into BNPL
In the first part of the BNPL series, host Dana Wondra (Payment & Banking) speaks with Florian Lörsch, a lawyer at Annerton, about the key models of Buy Now, Pay Later – from traditional invoice payments to more complex instalment plans.
The legal structure behind the scenes takes centre stage: real factoring is the most common model, where merchants sell their receivables to payment service providers, receive liquidity quickly and do not bear any default risk. For end customers, the legal construct remains largely invisible at checkout.
Factoring, licensing and regulatory supervision
Why is non-recourse factoring unsuitable for BNPL? What types of licences are required – a factoring licence under the KWG or a ZAG payment institution licence? And how does BaFin assess the economic focus of these models? Florian Lörsch provides the legal breakdown.
AML, customer identification and regulatory outlook
From an anti-money laundering perspective, BNPL is unique: the merchant is typically the sole contracting party, and end customers are not yet subject to identification obligations. However, this may change with upcoming EU regulations.
This episode shows: BNPL is already legally complex – and in the next episode, we’ll explore the upcoming Consumer Credit Directive CCD2 and how it will reshape the BNPL landscape.
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