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Buy now, pay later loans promise to boost purchasing power鈥攂ut can come with strings
Published: 4 September 2025
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs allow consumers to pay for items in instalments. And the market for these financial products has been growing at a 12% annual rate, and is projected to reach $7.5 billion in 2025. Fintech companies like Afterpay, Flexiti and Sezzle allow users to break down major purchases into more manageeable monthly or quarterly payments.
According to research by Vivek Astvansh, Gen Zers and Millennials make up 72% of BNPL users. But in Canada, the regulatory landscape for BNPL is ambiguous, writes Vass Bednar in The Walrus. Loans under $1500 are exempted from our predatory lending rules, and because BNPL lenders aren鈥檛 banks, they aren鈥檛 subject to the same capital requirements that larger financial institutions are.
