Survey: Buy now, pay later usage rises; 'pay-in-four' most common method
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) payment options are surging with consumers, especially younger ones.
More than a third (37%) of U.S. consumers made a purchase using the method in the past 90 days, a 5-percentage-point increase in just one year, according to JD Power’s 2026 U.S. Buy Now Pay Later Satisfaction Study. Half (50%) of consumers under 40 used BNPL to make a purchase in the past 90 days.
The “pay in four” installment schedule is by far the most common BNPL format used, according to the survey, with more than eight-in-10 (82%) FinTech customers and nearly three-quarters (73%) of bank customers paying off their purchases in four equal installments. Debit cards are the most widely used form of payment, with 64% of FinTech customers linking their BNPL payments to a debit card.
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Among customers using a BNPL service associated with their credit card, more than half (52%) make the decision to use a fixed payment plan after the purchase has already been made, while 48% make the decision at the time of purchase.
The average overall customer satisfaction score for bank-based BNPL services is 704 (on a 1,000-point scale), up 59 points from last year’s JD Power study. On the other hand, customer satisfaction with FinTech BNPL brands is 603, which is down 17 points from last year.
“The 2026 study shows sustained and rapid growth of BNPL, driven largely by increased use of services offered by FinTech providers. When it comes to overall satisfaction, however, the traditional financial institutions are delivering a much more positive user experience,” said Sean Gelles, senior director of banking and payments at JD Power. “This signals an enormous opportunity for traditional financial institutions. Customers are looking for BNPL solutions from the brands they already know and trust.”
The 2026 Buy Now Pay Later Satisfaction Study captured the responses of 3,909 customers, and was fielded from January 2025 – January 2026. The full report can be found here.
