IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Money and Mental Health response to FCA research on Buy Now Pay Later

31 October 2023

New research published today by the Financial Conduct Authority has shown a significant increase in the use of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products —and that frequent users of BNPL are more likely to be in financial difficulty.

The new data reveals that customers who have used BNPL over ten times in the past year were over four times as likely to have missed a payment of a bill or credit commitment in three of the last six months.

Conor D’Arcy, Interim Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:

“For some of us, Buy Now Pay Later can be a convenient and useful option. But this new research is more worrying evidence that people are using it when they are struggling financially and might find it difficult to understand the full implications of using this product. This risks sucking people further into a spiral of debt and compounding distress during the cost of living crisis.”

“It’s vital that the government acts quickly to put in place proper regulation of Buy Now Pay Later, so that people know what their rights are and where they can turn to if something goes wrong.”

ENDS

Contact:

For all media enquiries, please contact Brian Semple, Head of External Affairs, on 0207 848 1448 or [email protected]

Notes to Editors

• The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute was set up by Martin Lewis in spring 2016, registered charity number 1166493.
• It conducts research and develops policies for essential services firms, regulators, the health service and government to help people with mental health problems protect themselves from financial difficulties and get out of debt.