What credit unions should know about BNPL

What started and was rapidly adopted by a subset of consumers searching for more ways to budget and improve finances, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) – or installment payments – has quickly become a mainstream payments offering. In fact, BNPL is practically ubiquitous: virtually every large and midsize merchant in developed economies has considered, is in the process of launching or has already launched a BNPL solution.

The Current BNPL Market

The effects on the U.S. economy from the COVID-19 pandemic set the stage for BNPL lending and its rise to stardom. Fast forward to today and, according to Mercator Advisory Group, more than 50% of U.S. consumers have used a BNPL option in the past 12 to 14 months. And according to PSCU’s 2021 Eye on Payments study, 61% of respondents who know their financial institution offers BNPL have used this option. Aite-Novarica’s October 2021 Buy Now, Pay Later Market Overview Report notes installment solutions offered by seven of the leading BNPL vendors are currently serving more than 800,000 merchants and over 100 million consumers.

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