Buy now, pay later was supposed to be the friendlier alternative to credit cards. Split a purchase into four interest-free payments, skip the debt trap, and move on with your life.
The data tells a less comfortable story. Plenty of people pay late, and those late payments are starting to land on the one record lenders read before they say yes: your credit report.
Are More BNPL Borrowers Paying Late Every Year?
It depends on whose survey you read. 47% of BNPL users said they made a late payment in the past year, up from 41% in 2025, according to LendingTree’s September 2026 BNPL report, based on a March 2026 survey of 2,060 consumers. A six-point jump in one year is a signal. Household budgets are under real strain, and splitting payments is hiding it.
Here are the numbers that frame the problem.
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 47% | BNPL users who paid late in the past year | LendingTree, September 2026 |
| $65 billion | Projected BNPL originations in 2025, in 2025 dollars | Richmond Fed, February 2026 |
| 29% | BNPL users who now finance groceries | LendingTree, September 2026 |
| 53.6 million | Consumers who took a BNPL loan in 2023 | CFPB |
The market is still growing fast. A February 2026 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond projects real BNPL originations of $65.31 billion in 2025, in 2025 dollars, on a growth path of roughly 20% a year since 2021.
Most late payments are small slips. About 72% of late payers said their most recent late payment was no more than a week or so late, per the same LendingTree report. The Federal Reserve measures it differently and finds a steadier picture: slightly more than one fourth of BNPL users paid late in the prior 12 months, essentially unchanged from the year before (Federal Reserve, 2026).
| Survey | BNPL users who paid late | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| LendingTree, 2025 | 41% | |
| LendingTree, 2026 | 47% | Up six points |
| Federal Reserve SHED, 2025 | Slightly more than one fourth | Essentially unchanged from 2024 |
The two surveys ask different people different questions, so read each against its own prior year, never against the other.
BNPL Moved From Checkout Splurges to the Grocery Aisle
The biggest change is what people buy with it. 29% of BNPL users now finance groceries, up from 25% a year earlier (LendingTree, 2026). Sneakers and TVs used to be the story. When people take out a loan for food, that is a sign of financial stress, and it shows up in the late-payment numbers.
Gen Z leads BNPL grocery use at 38%. This generation faces a tough squeeze from high prices, student debt, and rising rent. For many of them, BNPL can work more like a paycheck bridge, which mirrors payday lending patterns.
BNPL stays popular even among people who already carry credit cards, as Money.com reported in September 2025. If rising costs are making payments hard, improving your credit score matters even more. Better credit opens the door to lower rates that ease the pressure over time.
Lower-Income, Black, Hispanic and Gen Z Borrowers Use BNPL Most
BNPL use is not spread evenly across the country. 16% of U.S. adults used BNPL in the past year, and use peaked at 23% among adults earning $25,000 to $49,999 (Federal Reserve, 2026). The people with the least room in their budget are the ones leaning on it most, which is where missed payments start.
Here is who used BNPL in 2025, from the Fed’s annual household survey.
| Group | Used BNPL in the past 12 months |
|---|---|
| All U.S. adults | 16% |
| Adults earning $25,000 to $49,999 | 23% |
| Black adults | 29% |
| Hispanic adults | 26% |
| White adults | 12% |
| Asian adults | 11% |
Credit scores tell the same story. The CFPB found 61% of BNPL users have subprime or deep subprime credit scores. Gen Z stands out too: 71% of Gen Z BNPL users have held more than one loan at the same time. A borrower with a low score and several plans running has almost no margin when one bill comes in high.
Thin Savings Are Why Late Payments Persist
Many households simply have no cushion left. Only 63% of adults said they would cover a $400 emergency with cash or its equivalent, unchanged from 2024 and down from 68% in 2021 (Federal Reserve, 2026). Everyone else needs a card, a loan, or a split payment to get through a surprise.
Savings are thin across the board. The personal saving rate was 2.7% of disposable income in June 2026 (US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2026). When the paycheck runs out before the month does, a four-payment plan looks like a lifeline.
The New York Fed describes a “K-shaped” divide between households that are managing and those falling behind. BNPL late payments sit on the lower arm of that K. The loans are small, but they are landing on the budgets least able to absorb them.
Loan Stacking Turns Four Small Payments Into a Debt Spiral
Loan stacking means holding several BNPL loans at once, and it is one of the riskiest habits in BNPL. 25% of BNPL users have held 3 or more BNPL loans at once (LendingTree, 2026). Each app tracks its own due dates. Nobody tracks the total except you.
The stacking numbers go deep:
- 63% of BNPL borrowers held loans at the same time during 2021 to 2022 (CFPB, 2025)
- 71% of Gen Z BNPL users have held multiple loans at once
- 19% of BNPL users have lost track of upcoming payments
A January 2025 CFPB study found frequent BNPL users carry $453 more in personal loans and $871 more in credit card debt than non-users with similar credit profiles. That creates “phantom debt,” obligations traditional lenders cannot see. For many people, BNPL sits on top of credit card debt that is already at record levels.
If you are also carrying credit card balances alongside BNPL loans, read our guide: [Buried in Credit Card Debt? Don’t Feel Stupid](https://creditrefresh.ai/blog/buried-in-credit-card-debt-dont-feel-stupid/). The data shows most credit card debt comes from emergencies and essentials.
A Missed BNPL Installment Costs More Than the Late Fee
The fee is the smallest part of a missed payment. 4.1% of all BNPL loans were charged a late fee in 2023, according to the CFPB’s review of the BNPL market. The average fee was $9.99. The real bill comes later, when a zero-interest plan turns into interest somewhere else.
If you cover a missed installment with a credit card you cannot pay off that month, the balance now rides at card rates. The average rate on general purpose cards hit 25.2% in 2024 (CFPB, 2025). A $135 purchase does not stay a $135 purchase for long at that rate.
The longest cost is on your report. A debt that goes unpaid long enough to reach collections can be reported for seven years under FCRA Section 605. That mark follows you to the car lot and the rental office.
BNPL Late Payments Can Now Count Against Your Credit Score
BNPL used to be invisible to credit scores, and that is changing. In June 2025, FICO announced two new credit scoring models, FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL, that bring buy now, pay later data into a score for the first time.
- Possible upside: FICO says on-time BNPL payments can help your score, especially if your credit file is thin. Its testing showed most users with 5 or more loans saw stable or improved scores.
- Possible downside: late payments become visible and can lower your score. Opening many BNPL accounts quickly can signal financial strain.
More than 60% of BNPL users wrongly believe on-time payments already help their credit score. For 85% of consumers, FICO estimates the new models move scores by about 10 points up or down, similar to opening any new credit account. If you are unsure how your own plans report, Empower’s 2025 explainer covers whether BNPL affects credit scores.
Once BNPL lands on credit reports, it can land wrong too. Of the 5,861,954 credit-reporting complaints recorded in the CFPB’s public Consumer Complaint Database from July 2025 through June 2026, 59.4% were about incorrect information on a report, by our own read of the data. These are unverified consumer allegations.
BNPL Still Sits in a Regulatory Blind Spot
BNPL lenders do not play by credit card rules. They are not classed as traditional lenders, so they do not have to follow the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) or carry the same federal protections as credit cards. The CFPB has pushed for more oversight, but the rules remain patchy.
Your rights on the credit report side have not changed. Since 1970, the FCRA has let you dispute anything on your report that is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable. A bureau that gets your dispute must run a reasonable investigation and generally finish within 30 days (FCRA Section 611).
How to Protect Yourself When BNPL Payments Pile Up
Start by treating every BNPL plan as real debt, because the bureaus now can. Then keep essentials off installment plans, ask for fee waivers when you slip, and check all three credit reports for BNPL entries that do not match your records.
Treat BNPL like real debt
Track every active loan, payment date, and balance in one place. The average BNPL late fee was $9.99 in 2023, and with the new FICO models, late payments can now reach your score.
Avoid using BNPL for essentials
If you are financing groceries or gas with installment plans, your budget needs a deeper look. Another BNPL loan will not fix it.
Ask for late fee waivers
89% of people who asked to have a BNPL late fee waived got it reduced or waived entirely (LendingTree, 2026). It costs one phone call or chat.
Monitor your credit report
As BNPL data starts showing up on credit reports, check all three of yours regularly: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. CreditRefresh scans your reports for errors and handles the dispute letters across all three bureaus.
Keep BNPL from hurting your credit
Credit Refresh scans your reports and helps you dispute errors before they cost you. Check your credit report.
Who Should Check Your Reports After a Late BNPL Payment?
Once a late BNPL payment can show up on a credit report, the real choice is who reads all three reports and writes the dispute when an entry is wrong. Here is how the options compare on price, on what the money buys a BNPL borrower, and on which bureaus each one reaches.
| Tool | What you pay | What that buys | Bureaus | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CreditRefresh | $49.99/mo, no setup fee, cancel anytime. Mail letters yourself free, or pay RushMail per letter | Scans all three reports, drafts an FCRA letter per flagged item, you sign | All three | 4.3 (9 reviews) |
| Dispute Beast | From $49.99/mo for required monitoring. Mail letters yourself free, or pay Sprint Mail per letter | AI dispute letters bundled with its paid monitoring plan | All three | 4.2 (2,067 reviews) |
| DisputeBee | $49/mo personal, $129/mo business | Letter software; you import, print, mail, and track each round yourself | All three | 3.2 (68 reviews) |
| The Credit People | $99/mo standard, $119/mo premium, or $599 for 6 months | A firm works your file; you do not approve each letter | All three | 1.7 (17 reviews) |
| Lexington Law | $139.95/mo, invoiced at the end of each service period | A law firm handles challenges for you; no self-serve dispute tool | All three | 3.2 (624 reviews) |
| Credit Karma | Free, paid for by lender referrals | Free monitoring and lender offers; Direct Dispute works with TransUnion only | TransUnion | 1.1 (912 reviews) |
Every price is that company’s own published rate, read off that company’s own site on September 15, 2026. Trustpilot scores and review counts as published on September 24, 2026.
Free comes with its own costs. Eduardo F., in a 1-star Trustpilot review of Credit Karma on September 14, 2026, wrote: “Credit Karma gets people to apply for loans or credit cards with outstanding approval odds which I believe to be a complete lie. So they make me hurt your credit score with hard inquiries, when in actuality you have 0 approval odds, not outstanding.” For a borrower already behind on BNPL, a hard inquiry on a loan that never comes through is one more hit the budget does not need.
How CreditRefresh Turns a Three-Bureau Scan Into Signed FCRA Letters
BNPL late payments now reach credit reports, and a wrong entry at one bureau costs the same as a real one. CreditRefresh scans your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion reports and flags items that look inaccurate, incomplete, unverifiable, or too old to report. For each item you choose to challenge, we draft a print-ready FCRA dispute letter. You review and sign every letter, and nothing goes out without your approval. Mail it yourself, or hand the round to RushMail for a small per-letter fee.
We track what happens after the letters go out. In CreditRefresh’s September 18, 2026 member-data extract, 2.3% of disputed bureau-level items in mailed rounds had a recorded outcome. Within that subset, 47.9% were no longer reported on a newer pull of the same bureau, while 52.1% remained reported with a changed balance, status or negative flag.
The bureaus decide every dispute, and the FCRA protects accurate information. CreditRefresh is included with Refresh Monitoring at a flat $49.99 a month, with no setup fee, no per-dispute charge, and no contract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which BNPL company has the most late payments?
The federal data does not rank them. The CFPB’s market study pooled six large pay-in-four firms, which together made 335.8 million loans in 2023, and reported the group as a whole. Your safest move is to track your own plans across every app you use.
Can I dispute a BNPL late payment I actually paid on time?
Yes. Under the FCRA, a late mark that is inaccurate can be disputed with each bureau reporting it, and proof of payment such as a receipt or bank record makes the letter stronger. The bureau then runs its investigation and decides the result.
What if the BNPL late payment on my report is accurate?
The FCRA does not remove accurate information. Bring the account current, ask the lender about a fee waiver, and keep the rest of your file clean with on-time payments.
Do I need to check all three credit bureaus for BNPL marks?
Yes. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion each keep their own file, so a BNPL entry can appear at one bureau and not the others, or appear differently at each. A dispute has to go to every bureau that reports the error.
Is Credit Karma enough to catch BNPL errors?
It will show you your TransUnion and Equifax data, but its Direct Dispute tool works with TransUnion only. An error at Experian or Equifax needs its own letter.
How long does a credit bureau have to answer a BNPL dispute?
Generally 30 days after it receives your dispute. In some cases the FCRA allows up to 45 days.
What should I do if I cannot make a BNPL payment this month?
Contact the provider before the due date and ask what options it offers. Then set autopay or reminders on every other plan so one missed payment does not turn into three.
CreditRefresh checks all three of your credit reports for BNPL entries that do not belong and drafts the FCRA letters for you to sign.
