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Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)...On Your Credit Card

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  • Benedict Guttman-Kenney
  • Christopher Firth
  • John Gathergood

Abstract

We provide the first economic research on `buy now, pay later' (BNPL): an unregulated FinTech credit product enabling consumers to defer payments into interest-free instalments. We study BNPL using UK credit card transaction data. We document consumers charging BNPL transactions to their credit card. Charging of BNPL to credit cards is most prevalent among younger consumers and those living in the most deprived geographies. Charging a $0\%$ interest, amortizing BNPL debt to credit cards - where typical interest rates are $20\%$ and amortization schedules decades-long - raises doubts on these consumers' ability to pay for BNPL. This prompts a regulatory question as to whether consumers should be allowed to refinance their unsecured debt.

Suggested Citation

  • Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Christopher Firth & John Gathergood, 2022. "Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)...On Your Credit Card," Papers 2201.01758, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2023.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2201.01758
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    2. William A. Barnett & Kun He & Jingtong He, 2022. "Consumption Loan Augmented Divisia Monetary Index and China Monetary Aggregation," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D18 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Protection
    • M38 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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