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"The Only Way I Could Afford It": Who Uses BNPL and Why, Accessible Data

Figure 1. BNPL use, by gender and race/ethnicity
  2021 2022 2023
White Men 6 7 9
Black Men 14 17 16
Hispanic Men 13 16 19
Asian Men 8 10 12
White Women 8 10 11
Black Women 25 24 24
Hispanic Women 17 22 23
Asian Women 6 8 8

Note: Key identifies bars in order from left to right.

Source: Authors’ calculations using the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.

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Figure 2. Selected reasons for BNPL use among women, by race/ethnicity
  White Women Black Women Hispanic Women
Only way I could afford it 59 57 63
Wanted a fixed number of payments 40 50 52
Wanted to spread out payments 91 83 88
Did not want to use a credit card 53 60 62
Convenience 80 86 91

Note: Key identifies bars in order from left to right, top to bottom.

Source: Authors’ calculations using the 2022 and 2023 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.

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Figure 3. Reasons for BNPL Use, by credit score
  Less than 620 620-659 660-719 720 or higher
Only accepted payment method I had 40 18 18 9
Only way I could afford it 84 68 57 33
Avoid interest charges 51 64 67 67

Note: Key identifies bars in order from left to right, top to bottom.

Source: Authors’ calculations using the 2023 SHED credit-merge sample. Credit score is VantageScore 4.0. Among BNPL users.

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Last Update: December 20, 2024