BNPL’s Biggest Opportunity May Be Its Least Likely User

Buy now, pay later is one of the most accessible financial tools available to American consumers today. It requires no minimum credit score for standard products, typically involves a soft credit pull that doesn’t affect a consumer’s credit score, takes seconds to apply for at checkout and lets shoppers split purchases into interest-free installments, typically over four to six weeks. For anyone navigating the gap between when bills arrive and when income hits the bank account, BNPL offers a fast and easy way to help balance the budget.

With 53% of Americans citing daily living expenses as a challenge, BNPL products from Klarna, Affirm and other providers should be widely utilized. The confounding issue is that millions of people cutting back hardest are using it the least.

A recent PYMNTS Intelligence report, based on a survey of 2,283 U.S. adults conducted in late March and early April 2026, divides consumers into three groups based on behavior — not age, income or geography — to determine how they respond to financial pressure. It shows that the variation in financial outcomes within a single generation is far wider than the variation between generations. The determining factor is behavioral; age, income and geography explain less than how people responded to financial pressure. Consumer usage of BNPL illustrates that point.

What we call reactive consumers — those whose spending and savings both fell and who coped almost entirely by cutting back — used BNPL at a rate of just 8%.

By contrast, 48% of consumers who took proactive steps, such as adding income, negotiating bills and reaching for financial tools, used BNPL — six times more. BNPL account ownership tracks the same way: 37% of proactive consumers hold a BNPL account, versus 14% of reactive ones.

This suggests that BNPL usage is less function of income and more a function of mindset. It’s a thesis that runs counter to the popular notion of BNPL as appealing primarily to financially-distressed consumers — a messaging BNPL providers promoted heavily when the credit product first gained traction around 2019.

Just 1 in 5 Consumers Take a Proactive Approach to Managing Tight Finances

The PYMNTS Intelligence data sorts the estimated 262 million U.S. adult consumers into three groups.

Reactive consumers, who comprise 34% of U.S. adults, or about 89 million individuals, roughly saw their spending and savings both fall. Their coping tool kit is narrow: 79% cut everyday spending in April and 62% avoided large purchases. Few took any step beyond that.

Proactive consumers, making up 21% of adults, or roughly 51 million people, also faced significant pocketbook pressure, but they responded by adding income sources, negotiating bills and reaching for financial tools, including BNPL. They report the highest sense that what they’re doing is working.

Balanced consumers, comprising 45% of adults, or close to 118 million people, held their spending roughly flat and made limited efforts to cope. They are vulnerable if inflation spikes, daily living costs continue rising and paychecks stay stagnant.

Basic BNPL products are designed for broad access. So why do reactive consumers tap it less? It’s possible they’re less financially engaged across the board, making them slower to adopt formal financial tools of any kind.

The informal borrowing data makes this visible. Among reactive consumers, 18% borrowed from family or friends to bridge financial gaps, ore than double the 8% who used BNPL. In other words, the instinct under financial stress is to reach for familiar, trusted sources, and a formal financial product sitting at a checkout counter is neither. Such borrowing carries its own costs: relational friction, no structured repayment, no credit-building benefit. BNPL can offer the same short-term liquidity with a cleaner structure.

Proactive consumers treat BNPL as a planning instrument rather than a sign of distress. They use it to manage cash flow timing, spreading costs across a pay cycle, preserving cash for competing obligations. That framing is part of why BNPL remains off the radar for someone already in retreat: It registers as a tool for people who are on top of their finances, not for people who feel behind.

At PYMNTS Intelligence, we work with businesses to uncover insights that fuel intelligent, data-driven discussions on changing customer expectations, a more connected economy and the strategic shifts necessary to achieve outcomes. With rigorous research methodologies and unwavering commitment to objective quality, we offer trusted data to grow your business. As our partner, you’ll have access to our diverse team of PhDs, researchers, data analysts, number crunchers, subject matter veterans and editorial experts.