Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own. Advertiser Disclosure

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) stats

The United States ranks 21st for BNPL remorse.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services are having a moment right now but is the ease of making purchases a double-edged sword? Finder surveyed 32,771 Internet users across 23 countries and found that people from the United States rank 21st for BNPL remorse, with 9% saying they’d made a buy now, pay later mistake. This is below the global average of 17% and behind countries like Germany (10%) and Canada (11%).

The most common BNPL mistake in the United States is impulsively buying something, with 4.9% saying they’d made an impulse purchase. The next most common BNPL mistakes are buying the more expensive option (2.2%) and paying a late fee (3%).

Men lead the way in BNPL mistakes in the United States

Men (9.4%) are more likely than women (8.3%) to say that they’ve made a BNPL mistake.

However, in two out of the five BNPL mistake categories, women were more likely than men to say that they’d made a BNPL error, including:

  • Buying the more expensive option (2.6%).
  • Going into overdraft (2.3%).

As for those not using BNPL services, more women (29.6%) than men (22.9%) say they’ve never used a BNPL service.

People age 55 to 64 the most likely to have made a BNPL error

In the United States, those aged 55 to 64 lead the way in making BNPL mistakes with 12.3% saying they’d had a purchase issue of some kind using instalment payment services. The next group most likely to have a BNPL mishap was those aged 35 to 44 (10.7%), followed by people aged 25 to 34 (10.3%).

Global BNPL mistake trends

The most common BNPL error was making impulse purchases, with 10% saying they'd made a buy now, pay later mistake saying they'd bought an item on a whim. This was at its highest in Vietnam, with 24% of those in Vietnam buying items on impulse, followed by Thailand (20%) and Sweden (14%).
Getting stuck with late fees was the next most common BNPL mistake, with around 4% saying they'd paid a penalty for not making a payment on time. Those surveyed in Malaysia were most likely to be slugged with buy now, pay later late fees at 9.1%, followed by India (9.08%) and Vietnam (8.7%).
Going overboard on spending was also a somewhat common problem for those who'd made BNPL mistakes, with 3% saying they'd overstretched their budget. Respondents in Vietnam were most susceptible to overspending, with 5% of respondents blowing their budgets. Not too far behind Vietnam is Thailand (5.4%) followed by Italy (5.1%).
Interestingly, 34.5% of people in Spain said they'd never used a BNPL service, closely followed by 32.3% of Mexicans and 26.3% of people in the US.

Men more likely to have BNPL remorse

Men are more likely to say they made a BNPL error than women, with an average of 18.3% of men saying they've made a BNPL mistake compared to 16.2% of women. In fact, in 14 out of the 21 countries surveyed men were more likely to say they'd made a BNPL mistake than women.
The highest percentage of men staying they had buyers remorse following a BNPL purchase was in Thailand at 41.5%. The highest percentage of women making buy now, pay later mistakes was in Vietnam, with 38.1%.
Image: Getty

More guides on Finder

Ask an Expert

Finder.com provides guides and information on a range of products and services. Because our content is not financial advice, we suggest talking with a professional before you make any decision.

By submitting your comment or question, you agree to our Privacy and Cookies Policy and finder.com Terms of Use.

Questions and responses on finder.com are not provided, paid for or otherwise endorsed by any bank or brand. These banks and brands are not responsible for ensuring that comments are answered or accurate.
Go to site