Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
Also called: BNPL, buy now pay later, pay in 4, point of sale financing
Buy now, pay later splits a purchase into a few interest-free installments, usually four payments over six weeks, with the merchant paying the provider's fee. Interest-free is genuine; the costs are elsewhere. Late fees are steep, several plans running at once are easy to lose track of, and reporting to credit bureaus is inconsistent, so BNPL debt can be invisible to a mortgage lender until it isn't. Studies consistently find it raises basket sizes, which is why merchants pay for it.