Buy now, pay later in the Gulf and what it means for COD

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) lets a shopper pay for an online order in instalments. The BNPL provider pays your store and collects the instalments from the shopper. On Shopify, BNPL is a payment method you add in Settings > Payments, through the provider's app if it has one. That matters for COD: a shopper who picks cash on delivery to put off paying, or to spread the cost, gets a way to do that online. The order arrives prepaid, so there's no cash left to collect at the door.

What is buy now, pay later?

A BNPL provider splits the price of an order into smaller payments over a few weeks or months. The provider decides which shoppers it approves and for how much. The store gets paid by the provider, not by the shopper, on the provider's schedule.

Providers describe their own products in their own terms. Tabby's business page offers to let shoppers "split into 4 interest-free payments" while the store gets "paid upfront", with longer plans of up to 12 payments. Tamara says it settles your account in full "regardless of whether the customer has paid". Fees, order limits and countries differ by provider, so this guide doesn't list them. Ask each provider.

Which BNPL providers have Shopify apps for Gulf stores?

These are providers whose own Shopify App Store listing or website describes a Shopify app, checked 26 October 2026. It isn't a complete list or a recommendation.

In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) licenses BNPL companies. When it licensed Tamara Finance in March 2025, SAMA told the public to deal only with authorised financial institutions and pointed to the list on its website. If you sell in Saudi Arabia, check that your provider is on it.

How does BNPL show up at a Shopify checkout?

Shopify puts BNPL under Additional payment methods, next to things like PayPal, separate from your main card provider. To add one:

1. Go to Settings > Payments.
2. In Additional payment methods, select Add payment methods and search for the provider.
3. If the provider is an app, select Install app, then Manage, and connect your account in the provider's app.
4. Select Activate.

Shopify says that once the app is activated, "the payment method is visible on checkout." It then sits in the payment list with your cards and COD.

A BNPL app may send the shopper to the provider's own page to finish. Shopify's documentation for payment apps describes an offsite type that lets merchants "redirect their buyers to an app-hosted website to complete the payment process." Only partners approved by Shopify can build payment apps like these. Place a test order on a phone, in Arabic and English, so you see what your shoppers see.

When can BNPL replace COD?

Shoppers choose COD for different reasons, and BNPL answers some of them:

So BNPL works well as an extra option next to COD, or as the option you rely on when you limit COD for big carts.

What changes for you when a BNPL order is refused?

A BNPL order is prepaid, so a refused or returned parcel becomes a return and a refund. You won't be left with an unpaid COD order. You still pay to ship the parcel out and back. Ask your provider how refunds and returns work with its app before you rely on it.

Should you hide COD when BNPL is available?

Not for everyone. BNPL doesn't reach the shoppers in the last two rows of the table above. A middle path is to keep COD for most orders and hide it only where a refusal costs most, such as large carts, first orders or customers who refused before. Instalments also matter more on large carts.

Before you set a cart limit, check the order amount range your BNPL provider accepts in each currency. If your limit sits above the provider's maximum, a big cart could end up with cards as the only option. Khaleeji COD only changes the Cash on Delivery method, so Tabby, Tamara and other methods stay visible when it hides COD. See how to hide COD above a cart total.

What should you ask a BNPL provider before adding it?

• Which countries and currencies does it accept, for your store and for your shoppers?
• What order amounts can it approve?
• What does it charge you per order, and when do you get paid?
• How do refunds, partial refunds and returns work from the Shopify order page?
• Is its payment page available in Arabic?
• In Saudi Arabia, is it licensed by SAMA?

For other ways to move shoppers from cash to card, read nudging shoppers from cash to card. For the local cards and wallets in each country, see online payment methods by GCC country. To weigh hiding COD against a COD fee, a deposit or OTP checks, see hide COD, COD fee, partial COD or OTP.