The best tech often has a rival, another company doing similar work. Healthy competition puts consumers in prime position as companies battle it out to sweeten the deal and get you to hand over your precious cash. 

iPhone people and Android people are almost two different social subclasses. So are sleek Mac users and practical Windows preferrers.  

And once you find your device, operating system or people, it’s rare for you to switch. 

In the noisy buy now pay later (BNPL) space one company is hot on the heels of the almighty Afterpay (ASX: APT). 

While not yet comparable to Afterpay’s $35B market capitalisation, Zip Co (ASX: Z1P) has made strides with their brand recognition and global strategy dividing customers as either Afterpayers or Zipsters. 

Expanding their reach further, Zip has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to integrate Zip capabilities into shopping experiences within Microsoft’s browser, Microsoft Edge (Edge vs Chrome is a debate we will leave for another time). 

Globally, there are more than 1.3 billion devices running Windows 10, each with Edge as their default browser. 

The new functionality will be tested during Q4 and is due to launch as early as November 2021.

US co-CEO of Zip, Brad Lindenberg commented on the agreement, saying: “Zip provides customers with a transparent, digital payment option, and we are excited to integrate with the shopping experience in Microsoft Edge.” 

“Microsoft Edge is a web browser that is built for shopping, and Zip is built for consumers looking for flexible payment options.”

The US offers a considerable addressable market for BNPL companies and is being realised by Zip following their acquisition of QuadPay which saw annual transactions skyrocket over 200%, proving that Zip’s integration and approach is effective abroad. 

That being said, uptake of the coveted pay-in-four system varies across countries with customer uptake seemingly slower in the US than in Australia. PayPal’s entrance into the BNPL space with their fresh installment offering has also threatened to topple to ASX’s BNPL stars, however, saying ‘PayPal it’ isn’t nearly as catchy as ‘Zip it’.