With Gen Z taking notice, can buy-now-pay-later become the new favorite payment method?
- Credit use is declining.
- Gen Z is showing interest in buy-now-pay-later platforms.
With traditional credit card use decreasing in the U.S., other payment methods may have a chance to gain market share. While Buy-Now-Pay-Later is far from becoming a dominant payment method in the U.S., interested Gen Z consumers could lead to an increase in use.
A recent AfterPay report describes the average Gen Z consumer as a cautious spender, extremely active on social media, and wary of credit. 94% of Gen Z users link their accounts to their debit cards rather than credit cards.
Credit wariness could lead to Gen Z choosing BNPL tools as primary payment methods.
“I do believe the age of credit cards is rapidly coming to — I wouldn’t call it an end, but a viable alternative in the buy-now-pay-later tools,” said Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and CEO and founder of Affirm.
Affirm, a BNPL company which has already partnered with over 6,000 merchants in the U.S., recently added ecommerce leader Shopify to the list. The partnership will allow Shopify users to pay in installments without interest.
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