NEW YORK—New PYMNTS data show that pay-later products, such as BNPL, continue to surge in growth, indicating it could be a big holiday season for the offerings.
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The firm’s Installment Persona report found that the share of U.S. consumers using some form of pay-later option in the previous three months jumped from 29.5% in April to 37.8% in September—a sharp increase that suggests growing comfort with installment-based payments.
Among Generation Z consumers, BNPL usage reached 6.4%, while credit card use climbed to 27.4%, up from 17.1% earlier in the year. Income continues to influence adoption: 45% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials reported using installment payments, compared with just 30% of households earning under $50,000, PYMNTS said.
The findings point to a shift in consumer behavior, as younger users increasingly view BNPL as a practical budgeting tool rather than a form of emergency credit—further cementing its role in everyday financial management, PYMNTS said.