Buy now pay later statistics 2026
BNPL users carry an average balance of $1,110
Quick summary
- Buy now, pay later has gone from a fringe payment option to a financial fixture for millions of Australians – as of March 2026, 41% have used a BNPL service in the past six months, a figure that has mainly held above 40% for five years running.
- Younger Australians are driving adoption, with gen Y (59%) and gen Z (57%) using BNPL at rates far above gen X (30%) and baby boomers (15%).
- Fewer people are paying late fees than at the 2022-23 peak, but those who do are being hit harder than ever, with the average late fee bill reaching a record $119 in early 2024.
- With a third of users saying they couldn't manage their finances without BNPL (33%), the service has clearly moved beyond convenience for many Australians into something closer to necessity.
How many Australians use BNPL?
- From a base of 32-41% in 2020, BNPL adoption surged through 2021 and has largely stayed above 40% ever since, peaking at an all-time high of 50% in October 2024 before settling at 41% in March 2026.
- Gen Z and gen Y both peaked around July 2022 at 69% and 64% respectively, riding a post-pandemic spending wave. Since then both have eased back, but gen Y (59%) has now pulled slightly ahead of gen Z (57%).
How much are Australians paying in BNPL late fees?
- The share of Australians paying late fees more than doubled from around 5% in 2019 to nearly 10% by 2022, before easing back to 7-8% by mid-2023 – suggesting users got savvier, or providers got stricter.
- But the average dollar amount tells a different story. After sitting in the $47-$77 range through 2022 and 2023, the average late fee bill jumped to a record $119 in early 2024 – fewer people are being caught out, but those who are, are paying significantly more for it.
What is the average BNPL balance carried by Australians?
- Average BNPL balances peaked above $1,700 in early 2022, then fell sharply over the following two years, bottoming out around $820 in early 2024.
- Since then, balances have crept back up to around $1,110 in March 2026 – a trajectory that mirrors broader cost-of-living pressures, with Australians leaning more on BNPL as budgets tighten.
Could Australians manage without BNPL?
- Around a third of BNPL users say they couldn't manage their finances without it – and that share is growing. After fluctuating between 23-35% through 2024 and 2025, it climbed to 34% in January 2026 and held at 33% in March.
- For one in three users, BNPL is no longer a payment preference – it's a financial lifeline.
Why Australians do and don't use BNPL services
- Finder data from 2021 reveals that 2 in 5 Australians (40%) prefer to use cash, a debit card or credit card over BNPL services.
- The most common concern of using BNPL services is the effect on credit scores (6%) due to not meeting repayment terms, followed by late fees (4%) and the ability to take out a home loan (3%).
- A separate Finder survey found Afterpay is by far the most popular service, with 38% of respondents having used it. This was followed by Zip (24%), store lay-by (8%), Humm (8%) and Openpay (7%).
- The top reasons shoppers opt for BNPL over credit cards are ease of sign-up (51%) and not having to pay interest (51%).
- 1 in 3 (33%) say they prefer BNPL because they are worried they would get into debt by using a credit card.
- A further 23% say they use BNPL simply because they are used to it, while 21% say it's because they were rejected for a credit card.
Sources
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