Is purchase on invoice still common in Switzerland?
Very. Invoices covered 34.6% of online spending in May 2026. Providers such as CembraPay, Powerpay and Swissbilling handle the credit check and guarantee payment, and CembraPay alone billed CHF 694 million in 2025.
In detail
Very. Purchase on invoice (Kauf auf Rechnung) represented 15.7% of online transactions and 34.6% of online spending in May 2026, and almost 70% of Swiss online merchants offer it. Switzerland practiced buy now, pay later long before the term existed.
Who carries the risk
Merchants rarely carry it themselves. Specialist providers run the credit check, pay the merchant and collect from the shopper.
- CembraPay, which absorbed Byjuno, is the market leader with an estimated 30% to 40% share. It billed CHF 694 million in 2025.
- Powerpay, from MF Group.
- Swissbilling, a Cembra subsidiary that also powers TWINT's pay later option.
- International players such as Klarna, PayPal, Riverty and HeyLight, with formats like pay in 3.
Why invoices remain popular
Swiss shoppers like to check goods before paying, and invoice suits higher baskets, where it carries a larger share of value than of transactions.
What it means for payment operators
For operators serving Swiss merchants, an invoice provider is part of a complete checkout next to TWINT and cards. Connecting one as a payment method, activating it per merchant and handling its settlement next to card payouts lets merchants offer invoice without managing credit risk.