Card Installment Use Jumps 13 Percentage Points as BNPL Holds Steady

Credit card installment plans are turning the biggest promise of buy now, pay later (BNPL) into an advantage for the card industry.

A PYMNTS Intelligence report, “The Pay Later Data Shift: Credit Card Installments Take the Lead,” finds consumers used card installment plans at more than twice the rate of BNPL in March 2026. Card installment use rose to 36% from 23% in April 2025, while BNPL finished the period at 15%, the same level where it began. The results suggest the pay-later market is developing around distribution, existing accounts and customer relationships rather than a single winning product.

Key Findings:

• Card installments gained 13 percentage points. Their use climbed across eight surveys, reaching 33% in September 2025 and 34% in October before ending at a series high of 36% in March. BNPL stayed in a narrower range of 12% to 15%. Card issuers can offer installment financing within accounts consumers already use, giving them a built-in path to adoption without asking customers to open another account. It works like an express lane inside a store customers already visit.
• Younger consumers favored card-based options. Gen Z use of credit card installments rose to 47% in March 2026 from 31% in April 2025. Gen Z use of BNPL increased to 23% from 21%. Millennials and bridge millennials followed a similar pattern, using card installments at roughly 1.8 to 2.5 times the BNPL rate across the survey series. The findings show younger consumers remain interested in splitting payments, though they don’t necessarily prefer a stand-alone BNPL provider.
• Higher earners led BNPL adoption. Consumers earning at least $150,000 a year used BNPL at about twice the rate of those earning less than $50,000 throughout the series. The shares stood at 20% and 10%, respectively, in March. That pattern presents BNPL as a budgeting and cash-flow tool used across the income spectrum, with its strongest adoption among consumers who have more financial resources.

The report concludes that pay later is becoming a feature within broader financial relationships. BNPL providers continue to serve a meaningful market, while card issuers bring reach, account histories and established merchant connections. For banks, networks and FinTechs, that mix creates room to improve visibility, controls and customer choice.

The report draws on PYMNTS Intelligence surveys of about 2,500 U.S. adults conducted monthly from September 2025 through March 2026, following the series launch in April 2025.

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