News Summary

Sezzle, a buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) platform based in Minneapolis, has filed a lawsuit against Shopify, accusing the e-commerce giant of engaging in anticompetitive practices that favor its own BNPL service, Shop Pay Installments. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges that Shopify used its market power to manipulate merchants and redirect potential Sezzle customers to its own service, thus stifling competition. Sezzle claims Shopify ‘copied’ its BNPL product and business model and penalized merchants using third-party BNPL options with additional fees. The lawsuit seeks to block Shopify from continuing these practices and demands financial damages. The BNPL market is rapidly growing, with projections reaching $350 billion USD by 2025. Shopify has not commented on the lawsuit.