Credit-reporting beliefs, affordability-related use and self-reported late payment among U.S. buy-now-pay-later users: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2025 SHED
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Buy now, pay later (BNPL) credit can relax immediate payment constraints but creates future obligations shaped by information, product use and household resources. This study compares credit-reporting beliefs and affordability-related use as correlates of self-reported late payment. We analyzed the public 2025 U.S. Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking and its analytical domain of 2,004 past-year BNPL users, 487 of whom reported any late payment. Survey-weighted logistic models were summarized using standardized probabilities and risk differences. Only 14.5% of users rejected both credit-reporting statements in accordance with the survey-time benchmark; 31.4% were uncertain and 54.1% accepted at least one statement. In a common expanded specification, benchmark-discordant agreement differed by + 0.2 percentage points from the benchmark-consistent category (95% confidence interval − 5.3 to + 5.7). Relative to their reference categories, standardized risk differences were + 16.5 points for the affordability motive (95% confidence interval + 12.0 to + 20.9), + 10.9 for groceries-or-medical use (+ 6.2 to + 15.6), + 8.9 for three or more versus zero or one other-purpose categories (+ 2.8 to + 15.1), and + 8.1 for financial strain (+ 3.7 to + 12.5). Because the affordability motive concerns the most recent purchase whereas the outcome records any late payment in the preceding year, these are respondent-level cross-sectional contrasts, not transaction-matched or causal effects. Taken together, the estimates suggest that survey-benchmark reporting beliefs and the affordability context of BNPL use provide different descriptive information about self-reported late payment. JEL Classification: D14; D83; G41; G51
Source: SN Business & Economics
Author: Kaibo Tang
Institution: The University of Osaka
Language: English
Subfield: Finance
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7172534892