New Poll Finds that Supermajority of Voters Supports Government Action to Rein in Predatory BNPL Industry, Protect Borrowers Calls on Policymakers to Take Action

July 13, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — Working families are having to turn to Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loans laden with junk fees to pay for persistently expensive necessities like groceries and gas, a new investigation from Protect Borrowers reveals. The investigation is the most comprehensive report on the BNPL market to date and sheds light on how BNPL products are proliferating across the economy, capitalizing on the growing financial desperation among working families. The report builds upon research showing that nearly half of Americans have taken out a BNPL loan, and roughly half of users have been late on a BNPL payment in the last year, exposing them to expensive junk fees that can trap them in debt. Despite the unprecedented levels of BNPL borrowing across the economy, the Trump-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has pulled back significantly on oversight, and consumers remain largely vulnerable to predatory practices by BNPL lenders. In response, policymakers at every level of government need to take immediate action to protect borrowers, including by passing both state and federal BNPL Borrowers’ Bills of Rights. 

The investigation also comes on the same day that Protect Borrowers and Data for Progress released a groundbreaking poll on the experiences of American voters with BNPL products. The poll confirms many of the investigation’s findings on the growing use of these products, with nearly 4 in 10 respondents—and nearly 6 in 10 respondents under 45—reporting using BNPL products. A substantial share of BNPL users report going into debt to pay for everyday essentials like groceries, utilities, and rent. Whether or not they use BNPL themselves, a supermajority of voters across party lines supports policy action to rein in abuses by BNPL lenders. 

“As the cost of everything goes up, Americans are being pushed to finance every aspect of their lives—from rent to groceries to medical care—and ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ loans play a huge part in that market,” said Jennifer Zhang, Policy, Research, & Data Analyst at Protect Borrowers. “These financial products are marketed as easy and interest-free but in fact come packed with junk fees that can turn a simple purchase into yet another debt trap. With federal regulators on the sidelines, Congress and state regulators need to step up their oversight of BNPL lenders.”

The report, “A Loan in Every Cart: How BNPL Lenders Take Advantage of Americans’ Financial Desperation and the Case for a BNPL Borrower Bill of Rights” is available here.

The complete poll, conducted by Data for Progress on behalf of Protect Borrowers, is available here.

Data from this poll among borrowers who have used Buy Now, Pay Later is available here.

Protect Borrowers’ report sheds light on BNPL loan users and why they are driven into using these products, and provides an original analysis of the loan features, pricing models, and risks to borrowers of the eight leading BNPL lenders. The investigation’s findings include: 

  • Americans are using BNPL to pay for recurring basic necessities, not just big-ticket purchases. Protect Borrowers’ July polling with Data For Progress shows nearly half of BNPL users (46 percent) have used the product to help pay for groceries. Significant percentages of users have taken out BNPL debt for medical or dental care (42 percent), paying down other debt (40 percent), utility bills (39 percent), gasoline (38 percent), restaurants or meal delivery (38 percent), and rent or other housing costs (33 percent). Over 1 in 5 users (22 percent) have used BNPL to pay for childcare.
  • BNPL loans are packed to the brim with junk fees, and the business model depends upon junk fee churn. Unlike traditional loans which extend a single lump sum of cash that can be split across any number of transactions and paid back monthly, BNPL loans are issued for each individual transaction a borrower makes, with frequent due dates (occurring every two weeks) and per-payment or per-transaction fees, which maximizes opportunities for lenders to extract junk fees. On top of late fees, some lenders charge junk fees for any of the steps a borrower might take to avert a late payment, like rescheduling their due date or not setting their bank account as the default method of payment.
  • Borrowers who miss payments can end up paying the same as they would for a 200 percent APR or more loan. This can far exceed the cost of revolving a credit card balance and be on par with some predatory payday loans. Yet, the very borrowers who are most likely to use BNPL in the first place are at greater risk of experiencing lapses in or interruptions to their income, as people tend to exhaust other forms of credit, and have lower savings and income, before turning to BNPL.
  • BNPL lenders are increasingly offering interest-accruing loans. Over a third of BNPL loan originations are now interest-accruing, and some lenders rely primarily upon interest-accruing loans for revenue. This may reflect that borrowers are more likely to return to lenders who offered pay-in-four loans for future, more expensive financing of potentially larger purchases, and that financial strain is pushing borrowers to take on interest in exchange for lower monthly payments.
  • Women and Black and Latino/a Americans are overrepresented among those who rely upon BNPL. Nearly 1 in 4 Black women and Latinas have used a BNPL loan. Black and Latino/a Americans are about twice as likely to use BNPL, compared to other groups. The disproportionate reliance upon BNPL among women and communities of color likely reflects the ongoing influence of wealth and income gaps by race and gender.
  • BNPL lenders are doing much more than making BNPL loans—they are breaking into banking and credit card issuing, and even pushing products through artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots. BNPL lenders are partnering with chartered banks to issue credit cards, debit cards, and bank accounts. They have also integrated their offerings into AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, creating new pathways for people to learn about and take on debt.
  • The spread of BNPL ultimately raises costs for everyone, including Americans who don’t use BNPL. BNPL lenders’ merchant fees are between double to nearly 10 times the cost of payment processing for debit cards and credit cards. As BNPL uptake increases, merchants will increasingly pass the costs of these fees onto all consumers by raising prices.

While the CFPB under then-director Rohit Chopra took action to give BNPL borrowers key legal protections and rights, those steps were swiftly revoked by the Trump CFPB, led by Acting Director Russ Vought; the Trump-led CFPB also announced that it would deprioritize enforcement actions against BNPL lenders related to the Truth in Lending Act. These actions have created an environment where Americans face predatory financial practices, junk fees, and data privacy violations, among other harms. The report urges Congress and states to pass a “BNPL Borrower Bill of Rights,” for Congress to compel the CFPB to do its job and comprehensively regulate the BNPL industry, and for states to guarantee BNPL borrowers a place to turn for help.

Further Reading

In Debt Substack post on “Desperation Finance”: The Financialization of Desperation Across Trump’s Economy

Protect Borrowers investigation into “Rent Now, Pay Later” Loans: Rent Now, Pain Later: How “Rent Now, Pay Later” Loans Put Working People at Risk

Protect Borrowers investigation into Buy Now Pay Later loans as “shadow student debt”: Point of Fail: How a Flood of “Buy Now, Pay Later” Student Debt is Putting Millions at Risk 

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About Protect Borrowers

Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) is a nonprofit organization led by a team of experts, lawyers, and advocates fighting to build an economy where debt doesn’t limit opportunity. We investigate financial abuses, take predatory companies to court, and push for policies to protect working people from debt traps. We aim to deliver immediate relief to families while building power, driving systemic change, and fighting for racial and economic justice.

Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow us on social @BorrowerJustice.