Buy now, pay later
Pay-later and installment lending: volumes, credit performance, merchant deals, state and federal rules.
26 items in 12 issues, Oct 24, 2026 to Nov 8, 2026, newest first. Each item links to the issue it ran in, where its sources are listed.
Related: Regulation and policyKlarnaPayPalCredit trendsAffirmCharters and sponsor banksSezzleFraud and underwriting
November 2026
- Sun, Nov 8 · The long read: The charter rush, as Democrats take the Senate
The pay-later race. All three large U.S. pay-later lenders now have bank applications pending. Affirm filed in January for Affirm Bank, a Nevada industrial loan company, and Klarna applied in July for a Utah bank charter. Sezzle applied to the OCC on Oct. 22 for a national bank, a review that CEO Charlie Youakim expects to take 12 to 18 months.
Read in the issue → - Sun, Nov 8 · Company spotlight: Affirm
Credit. Thirty-day-plus delinquencies on monthly installment loans rose to 2.9%, up 35 basis points from June and 9 basis points from a year earlier. The provision for credit losses climbed to $259.4 million from $162.8 million. CFO Rob O'Hare said Affirm "did choose to run some experiments within the approvals and the origination" and kept those loans on its balance sheet. He added that "the experiment itself was pretty localized to the month of September."
Read in the issue → - Sun, Nov 8 · Company spotlight: Affirm, part 2
Winter. In January, Affirm applied for its own bank and signed an exclusive deal with Fiserv to put Affirm installments on debit cards issued by Fiserv's bank and credit union clients. The December quarter brought GMV of $13.8 billion, up 36%, and 3.7 million cardholders.
Read in the issue → - Sun, Nov 8 · Company spotlight: Affirm, part 2
Fall. Amazon.co.uk added Affirm in September, and in October Sam's Club made Affirm its exclusive pay-later provider, online first and in clubs early in 2027. New York's financial regulator proposed BNPL licensing rules in July, including an $8 cap on penalty fees.
Read in the issue → - Sat, Nov 7 · Interest earned
Installments everywhere. Pay-over-time is moving from fintech apps into banks: equipifi forecasts that bank and credit union BNPL volume will rise 75% from a year earlier between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, with users up 60%. The forecast draws on more than 100 institutions and 4 million households.
Read in the issue → - Fri, Nov 6 · Earnings
Marqeta. Card platform Marqeta swung to $115.4 million of third-quarter net income and raised its outlook as processing volume rose 29% to $126.5 billion. Block still made up 41% of revenue, and KBW warned that growth from top clients, including BNPL companies, could slow. There is "almost nothing more engaging than a card product," CEO Mike Milotich said.
Read in the issue → - Thu, Nov 5 · BNPL & lending
Holiday volume. Bank and credit union BNPL volume will rise 75% from a year ago between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, equipifi forecasts. Users will rise 60%, with about 30% of them first-time users, and the forecast draws on more than 100 institutions and 4 million households.
Read in the issue → - Thu, Nov 5 · BNPL & lending
Signs of strain. A NerdWallet-Harris poll found 38% of Americans plan to use BNPL this holiday season, and 38% of those expect to pay late. TransUnion began sharing limited BNPL data with one lender in October, an early step toward installment loans showing up in underwriting.
Read in the issue → - Wed, Nov 4 · BNPL & lending
Holiday demand. In an Electronic Transactions Association and TSG survey of 1,099 consumers, 20% expect to use BNPL more this holiday season and 47% don't plan to use it at all. Among non-users, 73% said they dislike taking on debt, and 21% of all respondents use BNPL regularly.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Nov 2 · BNPL & lending
Holiday BNPL. About half of consumers in a TSG survey plan to use pay-later this holiday season, and 20% plan to use it more than last year. Urban Institute research finds about 1 in 10 working-age adults buy groceries with BNPL.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Nov 2 · Banks & charters
Charter rush. Galaxy Digital applied last Thursday for an OCC national trust bank charter, days after Ripple's charter won final approval. American Banker's tracker, updated Friday, lists near-prime card issuer Mission Lane (conditionally approved in September) and installment lender Avant (applied in September).
Read in the issue → - Sun, Nov 1 · The week ahead
Upstart, Oportun. Both report Tue Nov 3: reads on AI underwriting and near-prime installment credit quality.
Read in the issue →
October 2026
- Wed, Oct 28 · Earnings
PayPal Q3. Reported Oct 27. Revenue $8.6B, up 2%; transaction margin dollars +2%; non-GAAP EPS $1.45 (+8%). TPV rose 6% to $487B. PayPal raised its FY non-GAAP EPS guide to ~$5.60 from ~$5.38 and bought back $1.5B of stock. PYMNTS reports BNPL payment volume up 25%. The stock barely moved, as top-line growth stays slow.
Read in the issue → - Tue, Oct 27 · BNPL & lending
Affirm holiday push. In an Oct 26 commentary, Affirm cited Adobe's forecast of $21.3B in US online BNPL spend for Nov-Dec (+6.6% YoY). It put 30+ day delinquencies at 2.7% of monthly installment balances, and said 96% of transactions come from repeat users. It is positioning Pay in 4 (0% APR) directly against holiday card balances.
Read in the issue → - Tue, Oct 27 · Policy & enforcement
New Jersey bill. Assemblyman Onyema introduced A5664 (Oct 26). It would require a state license for BNPL lenders, cap fees and interest rates, and require clearer disclosures, responsible-lending standards and dispute procedures. It's another state moving toward New York-style BNPL regulation, a day after our deep dive on the EU's CCD2.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
What happens Nov 20. The EU's revised Consumer Credit Directive (2023/2225) applies from Nov 20, 2026. It replaces the 2008 rules and pulls buy-now-pay-later and third-party invoice credit into full consumer-credit law, for loans up to EUR 100,000. Orders placed through Nov 19 stay under the old rules.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
The loopholes close. Under the old directive, credit under EUR 200 and interest-free credit repaid within three months were exempt, which is how most BNPL operated outside credit law. Both exemptions are gone. What remains is narrow: a merchant's own interest-free deferral, paid within 50 days (14 days for large sellers). Briqpay's analysis says that generally falls away once a third party such as Klarna or PayPal provides the credit or buys the receivable.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
Credit check on every purchase. Providers must assess creditworthiness on every in-scope purchase from the first euro, using income, expenses and financial situation. Existing BNPL balances count in that assessment. Germany sets no fixed euro threshold for a SCHUFA bureau pull, so the depth of the check scales with the amount. A consumer turned down by an automated decision can ask for a human review.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
Germany is ground zero. Germany passed its implementing law (Bundestag in April; Bundesrat approved), and BNPL providers come under BaFin supervision. It's Europe's largest BNPL market, an estimated ~USD 83B in 2026 (vendor estimate). Klarna has used SCHUFA data since 2023, and its pay-in-installments products can now show up as inquiries or contracts on consumer files. As of September it was unclear whether PayPal would report Pay Later installments to SCHUFA.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
Pay in 30 days: the grey zone. German consumer guides say fee-free invoice purchases paid within 50 days stay exempt, while legal analyses say the exemption covers only a merchant's own credit. How regulators treat Klarna and PayPal 'pay in 30 days' invoices is the key open question for volumes. Watch for BaFin guidance.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
New consumer rights & checkout rules. These include a standard pre-contract information sheet (SECCI) before the customer is bound, a 14-day no-reason withdrawal right, and a cost warning on credit ads, including 'pay later' badges at checkout. Add-ons such as payment protection can't be pre-ticked, and a declined shopper must be offered another payment method.
Read in the issue → - Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)
The US angle. Europe is the template. CCD2 is where US state BNPL laws (New York's licensing regime, plus bills elsewhere) are heading: ability-to-repay checks, disclosures and supervision. Klarna (KLAR) and PayPal (PYPL) are the two listed names most exposed.
Read in the issue → - Sun, Oct 25 · BNPL & lending
Sezzle (Oct 22). Sezzle applied to the OCC for a national trust bank charter to add checking, savings and broader banking for "people who prefer BNPL." It dropped its earlier Utah ILC plan, citing new state BNPL rules (NY, IL, OR) and pushback on ILCs. The review is expected to take 12-18 months. TD Cowen called it "a smart move."
Read in the issue → - Sat, Oct 24 · BNPL & lending
Synchrony. CareCredit Pay Later (Oct 21) is a one-time-use, fixed-APR installment loan for out-of-pocket care, live at ~20,000 locations and shown next to the revolving card. It will roll out network-wide. Context: SYF Q3 net charge-offs were 4.79%, against FY guidance of under 5.5%.
Read in the issue → - Sat, Oct 24 · BNPL & lending
Klarna + FreshBooks (Oct 21). Klarna is now embedded in FreshBooks invoicing. Small businesses can offer pay in full, pay-in-4 or financing, with no setup.
Read in the issue → - Sat, Oct 24 · BNPL & lending
Bank installments. Four of the five largest U.S. banks now offer card installment plans, after BofA added a fixed-fee 3-18 month plan in June 2026, putting banks in direct competition with BNPL lenders at checkout.
Read in the issue →