Buy Now, Pay Later Powers the Experience Economy

This data book is based on a PYMNTS Intelligence survey conducted from Nov. 17, 2025, to Dec. 12, 2025, and includes 3,937 consumer responses. The results show buy now, pay later (BNPL) moving beyond retail carts and into experiences and holiday budgets—often alongside rising card balances that are reshaping how consumers fund discretionary spending. After screening and methodology adjustments, the analysis uses a sample of 2,286 respondents, including 2,166 complete responses from consumers who made at least one purchase in the prior three months. Throughout the Pay Later Ecosystem series, Pay Later encompasses BNPL, credit and store cards, and installment versions of each.

Pay Later Reshapes Consumer Finance

Purchase Preference

Most consumers (53%) now say they would prefer to use Pay Later options when purchasing tickets to events and experiences like concerts and massages—up from 40% in April, a 33% increase in just six months. The report frames this as a shift in mindset: Pay Later is increasingly used to fund lifestyle choices, signaling that short-term credit is becoming a more routine means of paying for discretionary purchases than a tool reserved for big-ticket necessities.

Pay Later Expansion

Consumers who use Pay Later are not just doing so more frequently—they are using BNPL and credit card installments at higher rates since last April across nearly all categories, with the sharpest lift in events and experiences, alongside broader gains in travel and home services. Notably, the report also flags that necessities such as utilities and medical and dental bills are increasingly being paid over time via BNPL and card installments, underscoring that installment behavior is spreading from optional spending into everyday financial management.

Balance Growth

Average monthly credit card balances rose by $198 from April to November 2025, reaching $3,564—an increase observed across all financial lifestyles. Even consumers who report not living paycheck to paycheck reported higher balances ($2,873 in November vs. $2,632 in April), which the report attributes to continued high prices and increased holiday spending. The broader takeaway is that Pay Later demand is rising in a market where card debt is already trending upward.

Credit Payments

Among consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills, 29% plan to pay only the minimum credit card payment or less. While some consumers were slightly more likely last November to pay more than the minimum or pay off balances—especially boomers and Gen X—the report’s central signal is that financially stressed households remain the most likely to carry balances forward, keeping revolving debt elevated even before incremental holiday charges hit.

Holiday Pay Later Adoption

Cards remain the mainstay for holiday spending—70% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to use a general-purpose credit card—but BNPL is now a major secondary option, with 44% saying they are likely to use fixed installment plans for holiday purchases. The pairing is telling: BNPL isn’t displacing cards so much as sitting beside them, giving consumers another way to pace their spending when budgets are tight and large seasonal purchases arrive in a short window.

Debt Premium

Consumers who said they were likely to use BNPL for holiday spending carry materially higher card balances—$1,128 more on average than those unlikely to use BNPL. The report notes that likely BNPL holiday users have balances exceeding $4,000, compared to roughly $3,100 for those unlikely to use it, and interprets the gap as evidence that BNPL often functions as a cash flow stopgap.

Choice Influence

BNPL is increasingly shaping where consumers spend, not just how they pay. More than four in 10 (42%) say BNPL availability is “very” or “extremely” influential in choosing where to book travel and vacation. The report frames BNPL as a demand driver for experience categories that tend to spike during the holidays—such as theme parks, concerts and spa treatments—because financing options can tip the decision toward one provider over another.