Young people are using Buy Now, Pay Later services more than ever—and they’re preferring them over credit cards. 

Young people are using Buy Now, Pay Later services more than ever—and they’re preferring them over credit cards. Services like Afterpay, Klarna, and Affirm are attracting young consumers as an alternative to traditional credit cards. The “microloans” are allowing them to pay in increments and giving them a more informed decision when making a purchase. According to PYMNTS’ “Buy Now, Pay Later Tracker,” Gen Z and Millennials are using these services the most because they value the transparency about how long it will take to pay off large purchases. When using a BNPL service, they know exactly how many payments they’ll need to make and when, whereas credit cards “typically calculate a minimum monthly payment based on the overall card balance rather than individual purchases.” YPulse’s Holiday Shopping Plans report found that 41% of 13-39-year-olds agree “I’ll be using pay-in-installment services (e.g. Klarna, Afterpay, etc.) to shop for the holidays so I can buy what I want.” (CNBC)