Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is evolving from a single e-commerce checkout option into a payment tool that follows consumers across platforms and scenarios. Worldpay’s Global Payments Report 2026 projects that global BNPL e-commerce transaction volume will reach $500 billion by 2030. Taiwan Mobile’s “Brother Pay Installment” has extended its partner channels from domestic e-commerce platforms like momo and 91APP to cross-border consolidation and purchasing platform Buy&Ship, allowing consumers to choose installment payments when shopping overseas.
Buy&Ship is an AI and robot-driven personal shopping platform. Users can paste product links to place orders from over a dozen markets including Japan, the US, South Korea, the UK, Australia, and Canada, and the platform purchases and consolidates shipping back to Taiwan. The company completed the first close of a $12 million Series C funding round in January 2026, bringing cumulative fundraising to over $30 million. Buy&Ship’s LinkedIn announcement mentioned that Singapore and Taiwan are among the markets with the highest annual growth rates on the platform.
The motivation for cross-border spending has long gone beyond just saving money. In July of this year, Buy&Ship saw trading card-related order volume grow more than twofold compared to the same period last year, and among cards shipped back to Taiwan over the past 90 days, the single most valuable card was worth over NT$240,000. Popular categories also include top international luxury brands, 3C electronics, Japanese apparel and cosmetics, and limited-edition models, showing that cross-border shopping has become deeply woven into interest-driven and everyday lifestyle consumption.
Wu Jianyi, deputy general manager of telecom finance at Taiwan Mobile, said BNPL is evolving from a single-channel checkout option into a flexible payment tool that can be used across platforms. In 2025, “Brother Pays Your Installments” saw transaction value grow 64% year over year, with user numbers up more than 60%. With the integration of Buy&Ship, the service has now officially expanded beyond domestic e-commerce platforms like momo and 91APP into overseas markets. Taiwan Mobile will continue to broaden the range of use cases, allowing users to arrange their spending according to their own budgets in different shopping scenarios.
The role of BNPL in cross-border e-commerce is also expanding rapidly. PayPal’s 2026 Cross-Border E-Commerce Trends Report notes that BNPL has become one of the core mechanisms for cross-border payments, with merchants from Europe to Asia adopting BNPL tools to attract consumers who want to avoid traditional credit card processes. The global BNPL market is expected to reach approximately $560 billion in transaction value in 2025, up 13.7% year over year, but it still accounts for only 5% to 6% of global e-commerce payments, leaving significant room for growth.
“Brother Pays in Installments” launched on momo in July 2023, marking the first post-purchase installment service in Taiwan’s telecom industry. Consumers can apply without a credit card. Current partner channels include momo Shopping, 91APP partner brands, 486 Group Buying, myfone online store, and Taiwan Mobile’s self-operated “Installment Payment E-Ticket Merchant Mall.” The addition of Buy&Ship extends BNPL from the domestic e-commerce space to the cross-border purchasing path.
From now until September 30, new customers of “大哥付你分期” who spend NT$7,000 or more in a single transaction at the aforementioned partner channels and choose an installment plan of 5 periods or more can enjoy a 5% instant discount, with a maximum discount of NT$700 per transaction. From September 1 to October 31, use “大哥付你分期” to check out at Buy&Ship and enter the exclusive code “TW926OPPAY” to get an additional NT$100 off. The two offers can be stacked, for a combined maximum instant discount of NT$800. Actual eligibility and installment conditions are subject to the announcement on the event page.
From an operational standpoint, the application process for “Brother Pays Your Installments” is completed through Taiwan Mobile’s official app. Users select the installment period at checkout, submit the application, and can use the service once approved. It currently supports several plans including 3, 6, and 12 installments, with the per-transaction limit varying by channel and product category. In Buy&Ship cross-border purchasing scenarios, when consumers choose “Brother Pays Your Installments” as the payment method at checkout, the platform forwards the order amount to Taiwan Mobile for installment review. Once approved, the goods are shipped back to Taiwan as usual, and consumers simply pay in monthly installments. This process turns cross-border shopping that would normally require a credit card or one-time payment into fixed monthly expenses, which helps with budget planning.
From an industry perspective, the logic behind telecom operators entering the BNPL space is “user data + credit assessment.” Taiwan Mobile holds payment records, consumption behavior, and credit data for millions of mobile phone subscribers, and this data can support installment review processes while lowering the lending threshold that traditional banks or credit card companies impose on new customers. Buy&Ship, as a cross-border purchasing platform, does not hold a financial license itself, so partnering with Taiwan Mobile effectively borrows the telecom operator’s credit assessment capabilities, allowing consumers on the platform to access installment services as well. This “platform + finance” combination is becoming increasingly common in Asian markets, with similar cases in Japan and Korea.
Taiwan Mobile’s move here transforms BNPL from a “shopping bonus for telecom users” into “cross-platform payment infrastructure.” The cross-border purchasing scenario of Buy&Ship, the trading card craze, and the 11% compound annual growth rate of the global BNPL market—stack these three together, and this partnership is more than just another checkout option; it expands the installment payment landscape from domestic to overseas. For consumers, there’s another choice; for platforms, there’s added financial backing; for telecom operators, there’s a new revenue stream. All three sides get what they need, though consumers should still be careful not to overspend beyond their means.
Source: KOCPC Chinese