https://www.9news.com.au/national/australias-credit-card-debt-fal...

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australias-credit-card-debt-falls-to-lowest-level-in-18-years-during-covid19/5ba2ed47-a806-45ec-900b-17e6f22a004b

1.2m less credit card accounts

Least amount of issued credit cards in 15 years

https://www.savings.com.au/credit-cards/credit-limits#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20data,in%20Australia%20is%20around%20%249%2C500.

Average credit card size is nearon $10k, average pre-approval for BNPL is around 1/10^th that size, and when I was on a nett household income of approx $150k with $300k in assets 3 yrs ago, I was approved for $1000 only, even though I lived comfortably. Safe to assume that much of that 1.2m less accounts, who have moved to BNPL have done so because they are financially sound. In which case spending in BNPL allows them to save interest on home loans etc. So therefore the onus is on the BNPL providers to find ways of billing the retail outlet, which would be a genuine concern.

The concern of financial burden that so many people will be unable to repay their “microloans” is hogwash. The current quarterly bad debts and provisions don’t indicate that all. Sure, with interest rates rising, people will struggle more but that is why BNPL approval limits will change, that is why spending/consumption will reduce but pivotally in the US, BNPL can still grow because its market share is still so little.

In regards to valuation of stock price in event of takeover, again see Squares takeover of Afterpay.
Look at the institutions investing in Klarna etc.