The “buy now, pay later” model is more accessible than ever.
A Chipotle order for the family through DoorDash? That’ll be four installments of $11. Weight-loss medications like Wegovy? You can pay for the $1,000-plus drug through Affirm.
“Buy now, pay later can be translated into pretty much every aspect of consumption,” Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev told USA TODAY. “You can buy a car, you can buy a plane, or you can just buy a sandwich.”
But is splitting food delivery into four payments a good idea?
The BNPL model, best known for zero-interest loans repaid in installments, has exploded in recent years.
“BNPL is stepping into the mainstream as a consumer credit product,” said Ed deHaan, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “I don’t have any reason to think the growth is going to slow down.”
A 2025 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says roughly 21% of consumers with a credit record were using BNPL from one of six major firms in 2022, with 20% characterized as “heavy users” who took out at least one BNPL loan on average each month. That’s up from 17.6% of consumers in 2021, with 18% considered heavy users.
Preyas Desai, a professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina, said BNPL can play a “valuable role” for some consumers, especially those with limited access to credit cards.
“It could be that they don’t like to use credit cards or (haven’t) acquired credit cards,” he said. “So they may have some need for addressing their liquidity constraints in the near term, and that could be a legitimate use for BNPL.”
Experts who spoke to USA TODAY said that buy now, pay later can be useful for those who use it responsibly. But like any loan, there can be risks.
One, according to Desai, is overspending.
A 2023 study co-authored by deHaan found BNPL users experience “rapid increases” in bank overdraft charges and credit card interest and fees compared to nonusers. Another 2022 working paper from Harvard researchers found BNPL use can lead to higher spending and a higher likelihood of dipping into savings.
“Consumers need to understand this new form of payment and make educated decisions,” Desai said. Users can “stack BNPL on top of each other and get these loans from multiple BNPL providers. So there is some risk that people might be able to get habitualized to use BNPL.”
CFBP found that 63% of buy now, pay later borrowers in 2022 originated multiple loans simultaneously, with 33% taking out loans across multiple firms. The typical loan that year was less than $100 when adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars.