4-in-6 Payment Products — Buy Now, Pay Later Data from the LIFE Survey (2025)

When comparing the characteristics of 4-in-6 product users between the 2022 and 2024 holiday seasons, we see a relatively little change in the percentage of respondents using the products, but we did observe a decline in the proportion of adopters using buy now, pay later (BNPL) intensively. We found the demographic characteristics of the BNPL users did not change significantly over that period. Consistent across our surveys, we found that users either cited convenience or a simple preference for the product as primary reasons for using BNPL, with a smaller proportion of respondents citing explicit credit constraints as reasons for using BNPL. Finally, we found that BNPL users were more likely than nonusers to experience financial disruptions and were significantly more concerned about making ends meet in the future. In addition, BNPL users tended to rely on more financial coping strategies — including borrowing more or taking on additional work — to meet their monthly expenses.