Over half of young adults have normalized buy-now-pay-later

Over half of young adults aged 18 to 27 sometimes make use of buy now, pay later options when making purchases. They view this option as a “debit card,” rather than a loan or debt, according to a study by the National Institute for Financial Information (Nibud).

Nibud investigated for the first time how many young adults in the Netherlands use buy now, pay later. Of the 1,509 respondents, nearly 40 percent never use pay later options.

About 51 percent sometimes pay with a credit card. 54 percent sometimes use pay-later providers like Klarna or Riverty. And about 59 percent have paid off a mobile phone via a subscription.

These young people say they use pay-later options because they want to see the purchased items before paying for them, or appreciate being able to spread the costs over a longer period.

Half, 50 percent, said that their accounts are sometimes overdrawn, and 8 percent said it happens frequently. According to Nibud, young adults who often use pay-later options are more often overdrawn. For this group, there is a risk that they spend more money than they can afford.

37 percent of respondents said that they struggle to make ends meet and sometimes have to borrow money from family or friends.

According to Nibud, a striking number of young adults who use pay-later options say they budget and keep financial records. But young adults who never use pay-later options manage better financially.

Flanderijn, an umbrella organization for debt collection agencies and bailiffs, recently reported that the number of young adults under 25 who come into contact with a debt collection agency increased by half in the past five years. About 45,000 young adults have payment arrears on their health insurance premiums and traffic fines. The number of young people requesting debt assistance increased by over a third in 2024.

Experts recently warned that debt problems make young people more susceptible to being recruited into a life of crime.