Chart - Z1P, page-5863

It's not a weird narrative, it's an old joke from the dotcom days (and maybe earlier). How can you possibly make profit 'on volume' if the unit sale is a loss?
The example you gave has profit per unit sale (5% - 4%). The company is in loss because of other expenses which, one hopes, will go down over time.
I think BNPL does have a future, it's just a matter of figuring out who will survive. Some of the smaller players may be a bigger prize as a buyout target. Right now the field is wide open and it all looks like a gamble. I am tempted to take a punt on LBY because they are the APT of NZ and are a good target for a buyout (if they don't run out of cash meanwhile).