Buy Now, Pay Forever: How new consumer debt options influence the psychology of young people
Young people today live with debt in ways that were once inconceivable. Student loans often take decades to pay off, and high interest rates mean that auto loans are now offered at terms of 84 months or longer. Unlike the mortgages that were the motor of American middle-class wealth in the 20th century, these loans do not leave their holders with a salable asset.
The rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, which allow consumers to finance online purchases at checkout, has helped to normalize such unproductive debt. A recent survey from the behavioral data company Fullstory found that 48% of consumers in the United States use BNPL at least once per week, on product categories including electronics, clothing, and furniture.1 The age of these users skews young, but they are not exclusively Gen Z. More than a third of Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X consumers use BNPL at least twice a week, compared to just 5% of Baby Boomers.
What is less well understood is the effect that normalized BNPL use may have on the financial psychology of the young people who use it most. Previous generations developed their intuitions about money and debt through experiences with credit cards, mortgages, and installment loans, each of which carried enough friction to make borrowing feel like a serious decision. BNPL, which is available at the point of purchase and typically interest-free for short repayment windows, may be training a generation to experience debt as something closer to a payment format than a financial commitment. That psychological shift has implications that extend well beyond the size of any individual purchase.
References
- Fullstory Survey: BNPL is a weekly habit for nearly half of consumers. (2026, March 24). https://www.fullstory.com/survey-bnpl-a-weekly-habit-for-nearly-half-of-consumers/
- Klarna for business | Flexible payment & marketing solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 April 2026, from https://www.klarna.com/international/enterprise/
- Ashby, R., Sharifi, S., Yao, J., & Ang, L. (2025). The influence of the buy-now-pay-later payment mode on consumer spending decisions. Journal of Retailing, 101(1), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2025.01.003
- Coke, J. (n.d.). Buy now, pay later: A behavioural scientist’s view. Level FT. Retrieved 11 April 2026, from https://www.levelft.com/blog/buy-now-pay-later-a-behavioural-scientists-view
- Prelec, D., & Simester, D. (2001). Always Leave Home Without It: A Further Investigation of the Credit-Card Effect on Willingness to Pay. Marketing Letters, 12(1), 5–12.
- Scanlon, K. (2025, May 8). The most valuable commodity in the world is friction. Substack. https://substack.com/@kyla/p-162965525
About the Author
Zakir Jamal
Zakir Jamal is a writer and researcher based in Montreal. He holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and is completing his MA in English Literature at McGill. He is currently working on a novel about how we understand chance. In his spare time, he enjoys photography and cross-country skiing.
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