38 Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Statistics, Trends, and Data Points for 2026

This briefing compiles verified statistics on U.S. buy now, pay later (BNPL) usage, spend volume, demographics, delinquency, and holiday shopping behavior. Every number is attributed to its publisher and year, with primary regulatory data from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Reserve kept separate from vendor spend trackers and market forecasts, because the two source types measure different things and are not directly comparable.

A definition note up front: “BNPL” most often refers to “pay-in-4” installment plans that split a purchase into four interest-free payments, but some sources fold in longer-term installment loans and interest-bearing products. Where a figure covers a broader or narrower product set, it is flagged.

Executive Summary

• Six major BNPL providers originated 335.8 million loans totaling $45.2 billion in 2023, up from 180 million loans and $24 billion in 2021 (CFPB, 2025 report on 2023 data; CFPB, 2022 report on 2021 data).
• BNPL providers originated roughly $156.7 billion in total BNPL credit products in 2025 across six providers, with “pay-in-4” plans accounting for about half (Federal Reserve, FEDS Notes, June 2026).
• 15% of U.S. adults used a BNPL service in 2024, up from 14% in 2023 and 12% in 2022 (Federal Reserve, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking).
• 24% of BNPL users were behind on a BNPL payment in 2024, up from 18% in 2023 (Federal Reserve, SHED, reported 2025).
• Nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans in 2022 went to borrowers with subprime or deep subprime credit scores (CFPB, borrower-level report, 2025).
• BNPL drove a record $20 billion in U.S. online spend over the November 1 to December 31, 2025 holiday season, up 9.8% year over year (Adobe Analytics, January 2026).
• BNPL reached about $342 billion, or 5% of global e-commerce transaction value, in 2024 (Worldpay, Global Payments Report 2025).
• An estimated 86.5 million people in the U.S. used BNPL in 2024, per aggregated market data (Statista / Capital One Shopping analysis, 2024).

Key Findings

• The six largest BNPL providers (Affirm, Cash App Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle, Zip) originated 335.8 million loans worth $45.2 billion in the U.S. in 2023 (CFPB, 2025).
• The average BNPL loan size was $135 (inflation-adjusted) in 2023 (CFPB, 2025).
• 53.6 million consumers took at least one BNPL loan in 2023, averaging 6.3 loans per user per lender (CFPB, 2025).
• BNPL originations grew nearly tenfold, from about 18 million loans in 2019 to 180 million loans in 2021 (CFPB, 2022).
• Total BNPL credit originations reached roughly $156.7 billion in 2025 across six providers, with pay-in-4 plans at about $78.3 billion (Federal Reserve, June 2026).
• About 63% of BNPL credit issuance carried a 0% APR in 2025, down from a peak near 83% in 2020 to 2021 (Federal Reserve, June 2026).
• 15% of U.S. adults reported using BNPL in 2024, continuing a rise from 12% in 2022 (Federal Reserve, SHED).
• 24% of BNPL users had fallen behind on a BNPL payment in 2024, versus 18% in 2023 (Federal Reserve, SHED, reported 2025).
• Among BNPL users earning under $25,000 a year, 40% reported a late payment in 2024 (Federal Reserve, SHED, reported 2025).
• Nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans went to borrowers with subprime or deep subprime credit scores in 2022 (CFPB, 2025).
• About 63% of BNPL borrowers held multiple simultaneous BNPL loans at some point in 2022 (CFPB, 2025).
• 10.5% of BNPL users were charged at least one late fee in 2021, up from 7.8% in 2020 (CFPB, 2022).
• BNPL drove a record $20 billion in U.S. online spend during the 2025 holiday season, up 9.8% year over year (Adobe Analytics, January 2026).
• Cyber Monday 2025 was the first single day BNPL crossed $1 billion, reaching $1.03 billion in U.S. online spend, up 4.2% year over year (Adobe Analytics, December 2025).
• BNPL accounted for about 5% of global e-commerce transaction value, roughly $342 billion, in 2024 (Worldpay, Global Payments Report 2025).

BNPL Market Size and Loan Volume

Primary regulatory data shows rapid growth in BNPL originations, though the pace has cooled from its 2019 to 2021 surge. The most authoritative volume figures come from the CFPB, which collected loan-level data directly from the largest providers, and the Federal Reserve, which estimates total product issuance.

Across six firms, lenders originated 335.8 million BNPL loans totaling $45.2 billion in 2023 (CFPB, 2025). That is up from 180 million loans worth $24 billion in 2021 (CFPB, 2022). BNPL originations grew nearly tenfold from about 18 million loans in 2019 to 180 million in 2021 (CFPB, 2022). The average loan size was $135, inflation-adjusted, in 2023 (CFPB, 2025). The Federal Reserve estimates total BNPL credit product originations at roughly $156.7 billion in 2025 across six providers, with pay-in-4 plans representing about half at $78.3 billion and other short- and longer-term installment loans making up the remainder (Federal Reserve, FEDS Notes, June 2026).

The two sets of dollar figures are not directly comparable. The CFPB $45.2 billion figure (2023) covers the classic pay-in-4 and closely related products from six firms, while the Federal Reserve $156.7 billion figure (2025) is a broader estimate that folds in longer-term and interest-bearing installment loans. Vendor and market-research estimates of U.S. BNPL gross merchandise volume, such as $109.0 billion for 2024 (Statista / Capital One Shopping analysis, 2024), sit between these because they use different provider sets and definitions.

Adoption and Number of Users

Adoption is best measured by the Federal Reserve’s nationally representative household survey, which reports the share of adults using BNPL. Vendor user-count estimates are larger and rely on modeled aggregates.

15% of U.S. adults used a BNPL service in 2024, up from 14% in 2023 and 12% in 2022 (Federal Reserve, SHED). 53.6 million consumers took at least one BNPL loan from the six surveyed providers in 2023 (CFPB, 2025). Among consumers with a credit record, 21.2% financed at least one purchase with a BNPL loan in 2022, up from 17.6% in 2021 (CFPB, 2025). Vendor aggregation puts total U.S. BNPL users at an estimated 86.5 million in 2024 (Statista / Capital One Shopping analysis, 2024). PayPal was the most commonly cited BNPL provider, used by 56% of BNPL users, followed by Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay at 38% each (Federal Reserve, reported 2025).

The gap between the Federal Reserve’s 15% of adults and vendor counts near 86.5 million users reflects methodology: survey-based adult shares versus modeled cumulative user aggregates. Treat the Federal Reserve share as the more conservative, primary benchmark.

Demographics: Who Uses BNPL

BNPL use skews toward younger, lower-income, and credit-constrained consumers. This pattern appears consistently across CFPB and Federal Reserve data.

Nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans went to borrowers with subprime or deep subprime credit scores in 2022 (CFPB, 2025). For borrowers ages 18 to 24, BNPL purchases represented 28% of total unsecured consumer debt, versus 17% across all age groups in 2022 (CFPB, 2025). Among BNPL users, most said they used BNPL for convenience or to spread payments, yet 57% used BNPL out of necessity (Federal Reserve, reported 2025). Liquidity- and credit-constrained consumers were among the most likely to use BNPL (Federal Reserve, reported 2025). BNPL borrowers carried higher balances on other unsecured credit, including credit cards and personal loans, than non-users in 2022 (CFPB, 2025).

Delinquency and Repayment

Delinquency signals have worsened in survey data even as provider-reported charge-off rates on classic pay-in-4 loans stayed low. The two measures capture different things: self-reported “behind on payments” versus lender-booked charge-offs.

24% of BNPL users were behind on a BNPL payment in 2024, up from 18% in 2023 (Federal Reserve, SHED, reported 2025). Among users earning under $25,000 a year, 40% reported a late payment in 2024 (Federal Reserve, reported 2025). 32% of BNPL users ages 18 to 29 reported at least one late payment in 2024 (Federal Reserve, reported 2025). On the provider side, 4.1% of BNPL loans were assessed a late fee in 2023, down from 5.2% in 2022 (CFPB, 2025). 1.83% of loans were charged off or deemed uncollectible in 2023, down from 2.63% in 2022 (CFPB, 2025). Earlier, 10.5% of unique users were charged at least one late fee in 2021, up from 7.8% in 2020 (CFPB, 2022).

The apparent contradiction between rising survey delinquency and falling provider charge-offs is a definition and coverage difference: the Federal Reserve captures all self-reported missed BNPL payments across products, while CFPB charge-off and late-fee rates cover only the six firms’ loan books and reflect their underwriting and fee policies.

Holiday BNPL Spending

Adobe Analytics tracks BNPL as a share of U.S. online holiday spend based on transactions across major retail sites. These are spend-volume trackers, not user counts, and are vendor data.

BNPL drove a record $20 billion in U.S. online spend over the November 1 to December 31, 2025 holiday season, up 9.8% year over year (Adobe Analytics, January 2026). Cyber Monday 2025 became the first single day BNPL crossed $1 billion, at $1.03 billion, up 4.2% year over year (Adobe Analytics, December 2025). In the prior 2024 holiday season, BNPL contributed $18.2 billion, up 9.6% year over year (Adobe Analytics, January 2025). Smartphones drove 82.2% of BNPL purchases during the 2025 holiday season (Adobe Analytics, January 2026). Total U.S. online holiday spend reached a record $257.8 billion in the 2025 season (Adobe Analytics, January 2026).

Global Context and Forecasts

Global figures come from vendor payment reports and are forecasts or modeled estimates, not regulatory data. They are useful for scale but carry wider uncertainty.

BNPL accounted for about 5% of global e-commerce transaction value, roughly $342 billion, in 2024 (Worldpay, Global Payments Report 2025). Worldpay reports BNPL online spend grew from about $2.3 billion globally in 2015 to $342 billion in 2024 (Worldpay, Global Payments Report 2025). U.S. BNPL gross merchandise volume was estimated at $109.0 billion in 2024, projected to reach $122.3 billion in 2025 (Statista / Capital One Shopping analysis, 2024 to 2025). These vendor forecasts should be read as directional; they use proprietary models and provider sets that differ from CFPB and Federal Reserve definitions.

Original Synthesis

These derived insights combine the primary datasets above. Each states its formula, inputs, and limits, and none should be overstated.

1. Average annual BNPL borrowing per user is rising toward $850

Formula: CFPB reports 6.3 loans per user per lender at a $135 average loan size in 2023, and an average annual BNPL loan amount of $848 per user (inflation-adjusted). Inputs: CFPB 2025 report. Limitation: this is per lender, so consumers using multiple providers borrow more in total; the figure understates cross-provider borrowing.

2. Survey delinquency is climbing about 6 points faster than adoption

Formula: BNPL adult adoption rose from 14% (2023) to 15% (2024), a 1-point gain, while the share of users behind on payments rose from 18% to 24%, a 6-point gain (Federal Reserve, SHED). Inputs: Federal Reserve SHED 2023 and 2024. Insight: repayment strain is growing faster than the user base, concentrated among low-income users (40% delinquency under $25,000). Limitation: self-reported survey data with year-to-year sampling variation.

3. Holiday BNPL is growing faster than total online holiday spend

Formula: BNPL holiday spend grew 9.8% year over year in 2025 while total online holiday spend grew 5.3% (Adobe Analytics, January 2026). Insight: BNPL is gaining share of the holiday checkout, not just riding overall e-commerce growth. Limitation: Adobe data covers major U.S. retail sites and is vendor-modeled, not a census of all transactions.

Tables

Table 1: CFPB Provider-Reported BNPL Metrics by Year

Sources: CFPB, 2022 report (2021 data); CFPB, 2025 report (2023 data). Figures cover six major providers; 2021 and 2023 values come from separate reports and definitions may differ slightly.

Table 2: Federal Reserve BNPL Adoption and Delinquency by Year

Source: Federal Reserve, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), reported through 2025. Self-reported survey data.

Table 3: Adobe Analytics Holiday BNPL Online Spend

Source: Adobe Analytics, January 2025 and December 2025 / January 2026 releases. Vendor spend tracker across major U.S. retail sites.

Charts to build

These charts would make the data citable and scannable for journalists and analysts.

• BNPL loan volume, 2021 vs 2023: Data: CFPB loan counts and dollar volume. Source: CFPB 2022 and 2025 reports. Insight: originations nearly doubled in two years. Citation-worthy because it uses primary regulatory data.
• Adoption vs delinquency, 2022 to 2024: Data: Federal Reserve SHED adult-usage share and share behind on payments. Source: Federal Reserve. Insight: delinquency rising faster than adoption. Highly quotable trend line.
• Delinquency by income band, 2024: Data: share reporting late payment by income group. Source: Federal Reserve. Insight: 40% delinquency under $25,000 shows concentration of strain among low-income users.
• Holiday BNPL spend, 2024 vs 2025: Data: Adobe season totals and Cyber Monday values. Source: Adobe Analytics. Insight: first $1 billion BNPL day and record season.
• Credit profile of BNPL borrowers, 2022: Data: share subprime/deep subprime, share with multiple loans. Source: CFPB. Insight: BNPL concentrated among credit-constrained borrowers.

Simple inline bar chart, Federal Reserve BNPL adult adoption by year:

Source: Federal Reserve, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.

Methodology

Source selection prioritized primary regulatory data. Tier 1 sources are the CFPB, which collected loan-level data directly from Affirm, Cash App Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle, and Zip, and the Federal Reserve, which fields the nationally representative SHED survey and publishes FEDS Notes research. Vendor data from Adobe Analytics, Worldpay, and Statista was included only for measures the primary sources do not cover, such as real-time holiday online spend and global transaction share, and is labeled as vendor data or forecast.

Inclusion rules: every figure carries a publisher, year, and geography. Numbers that could not be traced to a named publisher were excluded. Where CFPB provider-reported figures (six firms, mostly pay-in-4) and Federal Reserve issuance estimates (broader product set) disagreed on dollar volume, both are reported with an explicit note that they are not directly comparable. Where survey-based delinquency (Federal Reserve) diverged from provider charge-off rates (CFPB), the definition difference is stated rather than reconciled into a single number. Derived insights use only arithmetic on published figures and state their inputs and limits. Last updated July 2026.

Source Quality

Tier 1 (primary, government): U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau BNPL market and borrower reports; Federal Reserve Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking; Federal Reserve FEDS Notes BNPL product overview.

Tier 2 (credible market research and vendor data citing primary or first-party data): Adobe Analytics holiday online-spend tracker; Worldpay Global Payments Report 2025; Statista and Capital One Shopping BNPL market aggregates.

Tier 3 (reputable journalism and commentary): American Banker and Payments Dive coverage summarizing Federal Reserve and CFPB findings, used only to locate primary data.

Most Quotable Statistics

• Six major providers originated 335.8 million BNPL loans worth $45.2 billion in 2023 (CFPB, 2025).
• 24% of BNPL users were behind on a payment in 2024, up from 18% in 2023 (Federal Reserve, reported 2025).
• 40% of BNPL users earning under $25,000 reported a late payment in 2024 (Federal Reserve, reported 2025).
• Cyber Monday 2025 was the first day BNPL crossed $1 billion, at $1.03 billion (Adobe Analytics, December 2025).
• Nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans went to subprime or deep subprime borrowers in 2022 (CFPB, 2025).

Data Limitations

CFPB dollar figures cover only six firms and mostly the classic pay-in-4 product, so they understate the full BNPL market. Federal Reserve issuance estimates use a broader product definition and are partly modeled, so they are not comparable to CFPB totals. Federal Reserve delinquency figures are self-reported and subject to survey sampling variation. Adobe, Worldpay, and Statista figures are vendor data or forecasts built on proprietary models and provider sets that differ from regulatory definitions. Vendor user counts (near 86.5 million) and Federal Reserve adult-usage shares (15%) measure different things and should not be combined. Some 2025 and 2026 figures are recent and may be revised.

Recommended Dataset Fields

For a downloadable CSV: metric_name, value, unit, year_or_period, geography, provider_set, product_scope (pay-in-4 vs all installment), publisher, source_tier, source_url, is_forecast (yes/no), notes_on_comparability.

Press Summary

Buy now, pay later has moved from a niche checkout option to a mainstream credit product, and 2026 data shows both scale and strain. The CFPB reports that six major providers originated 335.8 million loans worth $45.2 billion in 2023, up from 180 million loans and $24 billion in 2021. The Federal Reserve estimates total BNPL credit issuance near $156.7 billion in 2025 under a broader definition. Adoption keeps climbing, with 15% of U.S. adults using BNPL in 2024, but repayment stress is rising faster: 24% of users were behind on a payment in 2024, and 40% of those earning under $25,000 reported a late payment. Nearly two-thirds of 2022 BNPL loans went to subprime or deep subprime borrowers. Holiday demand set records, with BNPL driving $20 billion in U.S. online spend over the 2025 season and crossing $1 billion in a single day on Cyber Monday. Regulatory and vendor figures use different definitions and are not directly comparable.

Suggested Headlines

• BNPL by the Numbers: 335.8 Million Loans and Rising Delinquency
• One in Four BNPL Users Fell Behind on Payments in 2024, Fed Data Shows
• Cyber Monday 2025 Marks the First $1 Billion Buy Now, Pay Later Day
• Two-Thirds of BNPL Loans Went to Subprime Borrowers, CFPB Finds
• BNPL Holiday Spend Hit $20 Billion as Repayment Strain Grows

FAQ

How many BNPL loans were originated in the U.S.?

Six major providers originated 335.8 million BNPL loans totaling $45.2 billion in 2023 (CFPB, 2025).

What share of U.S. adults use BNPL?

15% of U.S. adults used a BNPL service in 2024, up from 12% in 2022 (Federal Reserve, SHED).

How many people use BNPL in the U.S.?

Vendor aggregation estimates about 86.5 million U.S. BNPL users in 2024 (Statista / Capital One Shopping analysis, 2024); this modeled count is larger than the Federal Reserve’s survey-based adult share.

What is the average BNPL loan size?

The average BNPL loan was $135, inflation-adjusted, in 2023 (CFPB, 2025).

How many BNPL users fall behind on payments?

24% of BNPL users were behind on a payment in 2024, up from 18% in 2023 (Federal Reserve, reported 2025).

Who is most likely to miss a BNPL payment?

40% of BNPL users earning under $25,000 a year reported a late payment in 2024 (Federal Reserve, reported 2025).

What credit profile do BNPL borrowers have?

Nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans went to subprime or deep subprime borrowers in 2022 (CFPB, 2025).

How much did BNPL drive in holiday online spending?

BNPL drove a record $20 billion in U.S. online spend over the 2025 holiday season, up 9.8% year over year (Adobe Analytics, January 2026).

When did BNPL first cross $1 billion in a single day?

Cyber Monday 2025, at $1.03 billion in U.S. online BNPL spend (Adobe Analytics, December 2025).

What is BNPL’s share of global e-commerce?

BNPL accounted for about 5% of global e-commerce transaction value, roughly $342 billion, in 2024 (Worldpay, Global Payments Report 2025).

For more research-driven analysis, see CO Consulting. If your team needs help turning payment and consumer-credit data into strategy, you can book a consultation.

Related research

• B2B Marketing
• B2B Sales
• Sales Enablement
• Public Relations (PR)
• Ecommerce Marketing