As BNPL Loans for Essentials (Including Groceries) Soar, Is This a Sign of Stress or Consumer Adoption?

Buy now, pay later loans are increasingly becoming a fixture of the retail business and beyond, according to a recent CNBC report penned by Stephanie Dhue and Sharon Epperson.

"Buy now, pay later services have been on the rise as more consumers look to short-term installment financing options to help them manage the rising costs of daily necessities, not just pay for discretionary purchases," Dhue and Epperson wrote.

"BNPL providers originated nearly $157 billion in consumer credit products in 2025, up from nearly $116 billion in 2024, according to Federal Reserve estimates," they added.

Other notable facts pulled from the report include:

• Nearly half of Americans plan a BNPL loan in the coming months: LendingTree data suggested that 44% of respondents were looking to take out a BNPL loan sometime within the next six months, with 13% of those surveyed planning to apply for three or more during that same timeframe.
• Just under one-third of U.S. BNPL users have utilized funds for groceries: A full 29% of American BNPL users have gone ahead and used said funds to procure groceries, per LendingTree data -- a figure which has more than doubled since 2024, when the statistic stood at just 14%.
• BNPL delinquency rates are also increasing: The same data suggests that approximately half of BNPL borrowers (47%) have paid late on a loan at some point in the last 12 months, with that figure being substantially higher than the 34% who said the same two years ago.
• Interest-bearing BNPL loans are increasingly common: This year, interest-bearing BNPL installment loans represented more than one-third (~37%) of total BNPL loan issuances, nearly double the share observed just five years ago in 2021. Late payment fees can hit $7-8 per payment, and interest plus financing fees can reach 36%, according to Protect Borrowers.
• Credit card debt remains very high: U.S. total credit card debt hit $1.25 trillion in Q1 2026, ticking upward by 5.9% YoY according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York figures.

BNPL: Natural Adoption by Consumers and Retailers, or Last Resort for Stressed American Budgets?

But is it entirely fair to correlate the growth or adoption of BNPL loans among both U.S. consumers and retailers as necessarily a net negative, resulting from persistent inflationary pressure and general cost-of-living concerns?

Dhue and Epperson profiled full-time paraeducator and part-time radiology assistant Ashley Reed, who has been a frequently BNPL borrower for approximately two years. Following a medical emergency involving her mother while vacationing, Reed maxed out her credit cards and has been availing of BNPL services to make ends meet in the interim.

“That can make a small loan turn into something that looks more like a payday loan,” said Protect Borrowers executive director Mike Pierce. “It’s the equivalent of an interest rate of 100% APR or more because you have these late fees that stack on top of each other.”

And as for Reed, "She’s one of a growing number of consumers doing so amid inflation and other price pressures, such as higher gas prices stemming from the U.S. war with Iran," the reporters stated.

On the other hand, industry experts suggest that BNPL is a vital tool able to be leveraged by savvy consumers within the context of an ongoing affordability concern.

“Consumers are increasingly choosing the flexibility that pay-over-time options with clear, transparent terms provide,” American Fintech Council CEO Phil Goldfeder said, per CNBC.

“Splitting the cost of a purchase into four installments with zero to low interest is smart money management, not financial risk," wrote Miranda Margowsky, a spokesperson for the Financial Technology Association.