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B1a Buy Now, Pay Later: Financial Flexibility or Financial Fragility?
Short Description
This study examines who uses Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) in the United States and why, distinguishing constraint-driven use from convenience-driven adoption. Using the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances with repeated-imputation inference and replicate weights (4,595 households; 22,975 observations), we estimate survey-weighted binary-choice models of BNPL participation (7% prevalence). The central construct is Objective Financial Well-Being (FWB), defined by three thresholds: at least 2.5 months of liquid assets, at least 50% of assets in investments, and a solvency ratio above one. Explanatory blocks include other installment debt, missed credit-card payments, liquidity slack, financial sophistication, risk tolerance, use of financial advice, and socioeconomic controls. We predict lower BNPL uptake among high-FWB households and higher uptake among those with other loans, missed card payments, and greater liquidity slack; we also expect a positive association with financial knowledge. Findings will inform policy (targeted disclosures and affordability checks), product design, and financial education by clarifying whether BNPL primarily serves financially constrained households or also functions as a budgeting tool for resilient consumers. Before the conference, we plan a cross-survey comparison using the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) to link BNPL use to subjective financial well-being.
Type of presentation
Accepted Oral Presentation