Raynor de Best
Content expert covering payments and (crypto)currencies
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in the United States might see a sizable increase in use over the 2024 holiday shopping season, as shoppers try to control their debt. BNPL purchases during Amazon Prime Days in the U.S. already saw a sizable increase in 2024 compared to previous years. What drives U.S. shoppers to use BNPL and which providers are the main ones adopted by merchants?
With the cost of living remaining high in the United States and the holidays around the corner, both BNPL and its discussions on potential debt might appear again. This could change in 2025, as the interest rate cut from the U.S. Fed has translated into lower credit card fees.
BNPL providers, and the role of Apple
Some of the world's largest BNPL providers based on transaction volume originate from outside the United States. Sweden's Klarna and Australia's Afterpay and Zip process as many payments as the United States' Affirm or Sezzle. This is partially because BNPL is relatively popular in Northern Europe and Australia, but also due to the relatively low merchant adoption of BNPL in the United States - even compared to Apple Pay. Apple did offer its own BNPL solution but stopped doing so in the summer of 2024. Since then, Apple Pay added Affirm and Klarna as payment options at checkout. This may help to enable buy now, pay later, as Apple Pay has a relatively high adoption in the U.S..Different from credit
The option to take a loan without a check on credit score proved appealing for U.S. consumers. The main reason to use BNPL in the U.S. was to make purchases that otherwise would not fit in a personal budget. As BNPL loans are not reported to credit bureaus, however, the exact market size of buy now, pay later - or how many payments were missed - are difficult to track. Affirm, as a publicly listed company, reports that its 30-day delinquency rate was over 2.5 percent in 2024. Survey data suggests the most likely age group to miss BNPL payments was Millennials, with nearly one out of four respondents being overdue a transaction.Is BNPL used to purchase flights or cars?
Travel and automotive are relatively uncommon use cases for BNPL in the United States. Financing options like BNPL ranked as the lowest incentive for U.S. loyalty program holders to travel during the holiday season. The U.S. car industry does not report figures on the loan type, possibly including such figures within leasing. Instead, the most common item U.S. consumers used BNPL for was apparel. Clothing significantly outranked other types of products, such as consumer electronics or beauty products.With the cost of living remaining high in the United States and the holidays around the corner, both BNPL and its discussions on potential debt might appear again. This could change in 2025, as the interest rate cut from the U.S. Fed has translated into lower credit card fees.
