Credit Card Installment Use Jumps 13 Points, Doubles BNPL
A PYMNTS Intelligence report finds credit card installment plan usage surged to 36% of consumers by March 2026, more than double the rate for standalone
Credit card installment plans are being used at more than twice the rate of standalone buy now, pay later services. A new report from PYMNTS Intelligence shows 36% of consumers used card-based installments in March 2026, a 13 percentage point increase from April 2025, while BNPL usage remained flat at 15%.
The findings, detailed in "The Pay Later Data Shift: Credit Card Installments Take the Lead," suggest the market is consolidating around existing financial relationships. Card issuers are winning by offering installment financing within accounts consumers already use, acting as an express lane inside a store customers already visit.
Usage Trends Over Time
The report tracks usage from April 2025 through March 2026. Card installment use climbed consistently across eight monthly surveys.
| Period | Card Installment Usage | BNPL Usage |
|---|---|---|
| April 2025 | 23% | 15% |
| September 2025 | 33% | Not Specified |
| October 2025 | 34% | Not Specified |
| March 2026 | 36% | 15% |
BNPL usage stayed within a narrower band of 12% to 15% throughout the entire series. The data indicates the pay-later market is developing around distribution and existing customer accounts rather than a single winning product.
Generational Preferences
Younger consumers are driving the shift toward card-based options, though they remain interested in payment splitting overall. Generation Z showed the most pronounced movement.
Gen Z use of credit card installments rose to 47% in March 2026 from 31% in April 2025. Their use of BNPL increased more modestly, 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 report concludes that younger consumers do not necessarily prefer a stand-alone BNPL provider.
Income and Adoption Patterns
Higher earners are the most likely to use BNPL services. Throughout the survey series, consumers earning at least $150,000 a year used BNPL at about twice the rate of those earning less than $50,000.
In March 2026, the shares stood at 20% for the high-income group and 10% for the lower-income group. This 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.
For small business owners, the shift has implications for payment acceptance and customer financing options. The report frames pay-later as becoming a feature within broader financial relationships. BNPL providers continue to serve a meaningful market, while card issuers bring extensive reach, account histories, and established merchant connections. The report is based on monthly surveys of approximately 2,500 U.S. adults from September 2025 through March 2026.
