Over 17 million have used buy now, pay later services
The number of people who have used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services for their online shopping has now surpassed 17 million, according to reports.
Klarna, the biggest BNPL player in the UK, has seen its number of customers double to 15m since last year, according to the BBC, which first reported the news.
As the Christmas shopping season starts in earnest even more people are expected to take advantage of BNPL services which will allow them to buy products but postpone their making their payment, interest free.
The news comes as more businesses join the growing sector. Earlier this month London-based fintech Zilch – which capitalises on the lucrative BNPL sector – closed a $110m Series C funding round to become the UK’s latest billion dollar company in record-breaking time.
Around one in ten people are already planning to use BNPL for at least part of their seasonal shopping, according to a survey by Citizens Advice, published last week.
But the charity warned about the unregulated nature of the industry, as one in five people who will be resorting to borrowing money to pay for Christmas festivities, said they would likely be using BNPL.
“Money can often be tight in the run up to Christmas, but it’s still really important not to spend more than you can afford,” urged Citizens advice consumer expert Kate Hobson.
“If you’re considering using Buy Now Pay Later,” she continued, “make sure you understand what you’re signing up for, how you’ll make the repayments and what will happen if you can’t pay on time.”