The Pay Later split: BNPL slows, card installment plans hold

The Pay Later market is entering a new phase. In January, BNPL use declined among younger consumers, while demand remained steady among households living paycheck to paycheck. At the same time, credit card installment plans held firm, with more than three in 10 consumers using them—unchanged from the previous month.
Generation Z showed the sharpest pullback in BNPL use, while millennials and bridge millennials also declined to their lowest levels in nearly a year. But financially constrained consumers continued to rely on BNPL at similar rates as in December, highlighting its role as a liquidity tool rather than a discretionary one.