The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a report today on the "Buy Now, Pay Later" industry. The report, Buy Now, Pay Later: Market trends and consumer impacts, finds that industry grew rapidly during the pandemic, and that borrowers may receive uneven disclosures and protections. The five firms surveyed in the report originated 180 million loans totaling over $24 billion in 2021, a near tenfold increase from 2019.
The CFPB says that this type of loan serves as a close substitute for credit cards, and that the agency will work to ensure that borrowers have similar protections when using these loans as when they use credit cards.
