The good, the bad and the ugly of BNPL

Americans really like to buy now and pay later. At least when they're using it. Among consumers surveyed by LendingTree, the online service that matches borrowers with lenders, 51 percent had used a BNPL provider at least once. But nearly as many (52 percent) said they regretted financing purchases that way.

So, it shouldn't be too surprising that many users (41 percent) rack up late payments.

Yet it is ironic given that 63 percent of respondents said that if their application for a BNPL loan were approved they were very confident that they could pay it off on time; 30 percent were "somewhat" confident.

Taking out multiple loans in tandem

Apparently, buyers remorse and late fees are not deterrents, because the survey, which queried about 1,000 consumers across the spectrum of generations in April 2025, found that most (23 percent) had used BNPL between two and five times, and four percent had used BNPL more than 10 times.

Citing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data released in January 2025, LendingTree said the average BNPL loan was $142. But that data was from 2022, the most recent year for which data was available.

The LendingTree survey found that most BNPL users don't stop with one loan at a time. In fact, 60 percent of BNPL users said they've held multiple BNPL loans in tandem, including 23 percent who have held three or more.

Men are more likely to use BNPL than women (53 percent versus 46 percent), and the youngest adults (those 18 to 28) are more likely than baby boomers (64 percent versus 29 percent).

Putting money where their mouths are

LendingTree also found an increasing number of consumers are using BNPL to pay for groceries (25 percent, up from 14 percent last year).

When it comes to paying for food, BNPL users don't just stop with groceries, either. Two thirds say they'd consider using BNPL for food delivery. And a notable share may have the opportunity to follow through on that. DoorDash and BNPL giant Klarna recently announced a partnership that allows customers to pay for DoorDash deliveries using BNPL. Among BNPL users surveyed,16 percent had used the method for restaurant food delivery or takeout.

Other items commonly purchased using BNPL include

• Clothing, shoes and accessories (41 percent)
• Technology devices, such as laptops and gaming systems (39 percent)
• Home décor, furniture and appliances (33 percent)
• Beauty, body and hair products (22 percent)

The list of popular BNPL purchases doesn't stop there, however. Additional items consumers use BNPL for include:

• Travel, such as flight tickets and hotels (20 percent)
• Sporting or fitness equipment (18 percent)
• Concerts, sporting games and other events (18 percent)
• Toys (16 percent)

PayPal tops providers list

PayPal is by far the most popular provider of BNPL loans, with 56 percent of consumers surveyed saying they use that company's BNPL offering.

Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay all tied for second place with 38 percent of those surveyed indicating they had used these three companies to finance purchases.

Falling way behind these four companies were: Zip at 15 percent, Sezzle at 11 percent and Splitit at 6 percent.

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.