{ "question": "How many Americans use buy now, pay later?", "answer": "16% of US adults used buy now, pay later in the 12 months before the Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, fielded in October 2025, up from 15% a year earlier and 10% in 2021. Use is highest among Black (29%) and Hispanic (26%) adults and adults under 30 (22%), and 26% of users paid late.", "period": "2025", "key_numbers": [ { "value": "16%", "label": "US adults who used buy now, pay later in the prior 12 months", "note": "Federal Reserve SHED, Oct 2025", "stat": "ecommerce/us-adults-using-bnpl" }, { "value": "26%", "label": "BNPL users who were late making a payment", "note": "Federal Reserve SHED, Oct 2025" }, { "value": "11%", "label": "BNPL users whose BNPL payment triggered a bank overdraft or NSF fee", "note": "Federal Reserve SHED, Oct 2025", "stat": "ecommerce/bnpl-users-overdraft-fee" }, { "value": "21.2%", "label": "US consumers with a credit record who took out at least one BNPL loan", "note": "CFPB, 2022 lender data", "stat": "ecommerce/consumers-with-credit-record-using-bnpl" }, { "value": "49%", "label": "BNPL users who bought clothing or accessories with it", "note": "Federal Reserve SHED, Oct 2025" } ], "tables": [ { "id": "by-group", "title": "US adults who used buy now, pay later in the prior 12 months, and users who paid late, by group (2025)", "columns": [ "Group", "Used BNPL", "Paid late (among users)" ], "rows": [ [ "Family income less than $25,000", "18%", "40%" ], [ "$25,000 to $49,999", "23%", "33%" ], [ "$50,000 to $99,999", "18%", "25%" ], [ "$100,000 or more", "12%", "11%" ], [ "Ages 18-29", "22%", "32%" ], [ "Ages 30-44", "21%", "31%" ], [ "Ages 45-59", "17%", "22%" ], [ "Ages 60+", "9%", "12%" ], [ "White", "12%", "21%" ], [ "Black", "29%", "32%" ], [ "Hispanic", "26%", "26%" ], [ "Asian", "11%", "16%" ], [ "Men", "14%", "23%" ], [ "Women", "19%", "27%" ], [ "All US adults", "16%", "26%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "income-under-25k", "income-25k-50k", "income-50k-100k", "income-100k-plus", "age-18-29", "age-30-44", "age-45-59", "age-60-plus", "race-white", "race-black", "race-hispanic", "race-asian", "sex-men", "sex-women", "all-adults" ], "note": "Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025, table 41. The Fed says the gaps by race and ethnicity remain after controlling for income and age.", "source": "fed-board" }, { "id": "risks", "title": "Late payments, fees and credit understanding among US BNPL users (2025)", "columns": [ "Measure", "Share" ], "rows": [ [ "Users who were late making a payment", "26%" ], [ "Users who were charged extra for paying late", "17%" ], [ "Users whose BNPL payment triggered a bank overdraft or NSF fee", "11%" ], [ "Users charged a late fee who also had an overdraft or NSF fee from a BNPL payment", "38%" ], [ "Users who wrongly agreed that on-time payments help their credit score", "53%" ], [ "Users who answered both credit questions correctly", "14%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "risk-late", "risk-late-fee", "risk-overdraft", "risk-late-fee-and-overdraft", "risk-credit-myth", "risk-credit-correct" ], "note": "Federal Reserve SHED 2025. At the time of the survey, BNPL purchases and on-time payments did not affect credit histories or credit scores at any of the three major credit bureaus.", "source": "fed-board" }, { "id": "reasons", "title": "Main reason for using buy now, pay later, by family income (2025)", "columns": [ "Main reason", "Less than $25,000", "$25,000 to $49,999", "$50,000 to $99,999", "$100,000 or more", "All users" ], "rows": [ [ "Wanted to spread out payments", "25%", "27%", "31%", "38%", "31%" ], [ "Only way I could afford it", "40%", "37%", "32%", "15%", "29%" ], [ "Avoid interest charges", "9%", "11%", "13%", "26%", "16%" ], [ "Convenience", "13%", "14%", "12%", "12%", "12%" ], [ "Did not want to use a credit card", "2%", "3%", "5%", "6%", "4%" ], [ "Wanted a fixed number of payments", "3%", "4%", "2%", "1%", "2%" ], [ "Only accepted payment method I had", "2%", "1%", "1%", "1%", "1%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "reason-spread", "reason-afford", "reason-interest", "reason-convenience", "reason-no-credit-card", "reason-fixed-payments", "reason-only-method" ], "note": "Among adults who used BNPL in the past year; table 42. 2025 was the first year the survey asked for the main reason, so earlier years are not comparable.", "source": "fed-board" }, { "id": "purchases", "title": "What US BNPL users bought with it in the prior year (2025)", "columns": [ "Purchase type", "Users" ], "rows": [ [ "Clothing or accessories", "49%" ], [ "Electronics", "32%" ], [ "Furniture or appliances", "26%" ], [ "Groceries or food delivery", "20%" ], [ "Travel expenses", "19%" ], [ "Medical or veterinary procedures", "8%" ], [ "Other", "16%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "buy-clothing", "buy-electronics", "buy-furniture", "buy-groceries", "buy-travel", "buy-medical", "buy-other" ], "note": "Users could name more than one type. Of those who used BNPL for groceries or food delivery, 45% said the main reason was that it was the only way they could afford the purchase.", "source": "fed-board" }, { "id": "cfpb", "title": "BNPL use among US consumers with a credit record, lender data (CFPB)", "columns": [ "Measure", "2022", "2021" ], "rows": [ [ "Consumers with a credit record who financed at least one purchase with BNPL", "21.2%", "17.6%" ], [ "Borrowers who were heavy users (more than one loan a month on average)", "About 20%", "18%" ], [ "Average number of BNPL loans per borrower", "9.5", "8.5" ], [ "Borrowers with multiple BNPL loans at the same time", "Approximately 63%", "Not given" ], [ "Borrowers with loans from more than one BNPL lender", "33%", "Not given" ] ], "row_ids": [ "cfpb-users", "cfpb-heavy-users", "cfpb-loans-per-borrower", "cfpb-simultaneous", "cfpb-multiple-lenders" ], "note": "CFPB release of 13 Jan 2025 (archived), loan data from six large BNPL firms (Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle and Zip) matched to deidentified credit records.", "source": "cfpb" }, { "id": "history", "title": "US adults who used buy now, pay later, every year the Federal Reserve has asked", "columns": [ "Survey year", "Used BNPL", "Paid late (among users)" ], "rows": [ [ "2021", "10%", "15%" ], [ "2022", "12%", "17%" ], [ "2023", "14%", "18%" ], [ "2024", "15%", "24%" ], [ "2025", "16%", "26%" ] ], "note": "Federal Reserve SHED reports for 2021 to 2025, each fielded in October. 2021 was the first year the survey asked about BNPL. Late shares for 2021 and 2024 are from figure 33 of the 2025 report. The 2025 report's text says use was 'up from 15 percent in 2025', apparently a typo for 2024; the 15% for 2024 is the 2024 report's own figure, and figure 33 shows the same.", "source": "fed-board" } ], "sources": [ { "name": "Federal Reserve Board publications (SHED report, FEDS Notes, speeches)", "publisher": "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System", "type": "official", "url": "https://www.federalreserve.gov/" }, { "name": "CFPB research on Buy Now, Pay Later", "publisher": "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau", "type": "official", "url": "https://www.consumerfinance.gov/" }, { "name": "Adobe Digital Insights / Adobe Analytics press releases", "publisher": "Adobe", "type": "vendor", "url": "https://news.adobe.com/" } ], "content_changed_on": "2026-10-31", "page_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ecommerce/bnpl-usage", "csv_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ecommerce/bnpl-usage.csv" }