Alibaba.com Launches ‘Pay Later’ for U.S. SMEs, Powered by Balance’s B2B BNPL Platform

Alibaba.com has quietly made a big move in the B2B fintech space—launching a “Pay Later for Business” feature aimed at solving one of the most painful SME problems: access to flexible financing. Powered by Balance, an AI-driven B2B payments infrastructure startup, the new feature lets U.S.-based business buyers access instant credit directly at checkout.

It’s buy now, pay later—just for businesses. And it’s embedded.

This isn’t just another fintech gimmick bolted onto a marketplace. It’s a signal that Alibaba.com wants to own a bigger chunk of the U.S. B2B e-commerce market—and it’s betting that more accessible, embedded financing will grease the wheels.

Solving the SME Financing Gap

For U.S. small and medium-sized businesses buying through Alibaba.com, Pay Later offers what most banks and traditional lenders haven’t: real-time credit decisions and approval rates that don’t tank just because you’re a scrappy startup or growing wholesaler.

That’s where Balance’s AI risk engine steps in. The system evaluates creditworthiness instantly, reducing friction at the point of sale while keeping approval rates high—even for businesses underserved by banks.

“In tight economic conditions, and especially with the added strain of tariffs, access to financing can make the difference between surviving and thriving,” said Bar Geron, Balance’s CEO and co-founder.

Alibaba.com’s Yiran Li echoed the sentiment: “We’re making it easy for customers to buy on their terms, without being limited by cash flow constraints.”

Embedded B2B BNPL Is Heating Up

Balance’s tech doesn’t just offer pay-later options—it rewires how businesses handle payments. The company already powers net terms and invoicing infrastructure for clients like Instacart Business. With Alibaba.com now onboard, it’s cementing its position as a leader in embedded B2B payments.

This also puts Alibaba.com one step ahead in a growing race among marketplaces and procurement platforms to add financial services. Amazon Business, Faire, and even Shopify’s B2B efforts have dabbled in offering terms and invoicing—but few have fully embedded BNPL with real-time credit access at the point of purchase.

That distinction matters. Instead of requiring buyers to apply for terms days in advance or go through a separate underwriting process, the Pay Later experience happens natively, seamlessly, and instantly.

What This Means for B2B Sellers

Sellers on Alibaba.com also stand to benefit. With financing embedded at checkout, merchants can expect higher conversion rates, larger average order volumes, and more repeat customers—all without taking on credit risk or managing collections.

Balance handles the underwriting, credit servicing, and payments in the background, freeing up sellers to focus on fulfillment and scaling.

In other words: B2B merchants get the upside of offering financing, without the headaches.

The Bigger Picture: Consumer UX Comes to B2B

B2B buyers have long wondered why their checkout experience feels like it’s stuck in 2008, while consumer sites let you pay in 15 seconds with a virtual credit line. This launch is part of a broader push to bring consumer-grade UX to B2B transactions—where friction still reigns, and abandoned carts mean lost contracts, not just lost T-shirts.

Balance and Alibaba.com are pushing that envelope, using fintech infrastructure to make big-ticket business purchases just as fluid as buying coffee pods on Amazon.

And if they succeed? Expect a wave of other platforms to follow suit.

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