Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is hailed as the modern layaway plan. BNPL has become one of the most popular forms of credit access in recent years as it offers an alternative to the traditional credit card. In 2024, 15 percent of American consumers used BNPL.
However, regulation would restrict competition among BNPL companies, preventing them from improving their services to attract customers while limiting consumer choice in financial decisions.
As with most good things, potential regulations were quick to appear. In May 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a rule seeking to apply Regulation Z, otherwise known as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), to BNPL lenders. The rule stated that BNPL lenders should be subject to the rules of credit card issuers.
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Leah Locke is a policy analyst at the American Consumer Institute, focusing on finance and insurance policy. The American Consumer Institute is a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, follow us on X @ConsumerPal.