People buy products in a Walmart in Rosemead, California, on April 11, 2025.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty images
A growing number of Americans is using now, paying subsequent loans to buy groceries, and more people pay those invoices late, according to new data on loan trees Launched on Friday.
The figures are the last indicator that some consumers are breaking under the pressure of an uncertain economy and have problems to provide essential elements such as groceries, since they maintain with persistent inflation, high interest rates and concerns about tariffs.
In a survey conducted from April 2 to 3, 2,000 US consumers from 18 to 79 years old, around half informed having used the purchase now, paying subsequent services. Of those consumers, 25% of the respondents said they were using BNPL loans to buy groceries, compared to 14% in 2024 and 21% in 2023, the firm said.
Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said they made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the last year, compared to 34% in the previous year, according to the survey.
The main consuing finance analyst Tree, Matt Schulz, said that of respondents who said they paid a BNPL bill, most said it was not more than a week or so.
“Many people are fighting and looking for ways to extend their budget,” said Schulz. “Inflation remains a problem. Interest rates are still really high. There is a lot of uncertainty about tariffs and other economic problems, and everything will be added to many people looking for ways to extend their budget as they can.”
“For many people, that will mean leaning on the purchase now, paying subsequent loans, for better or worse,” he said.
A recession indicator did not stop to the results, but conditions are expected to decrease even more before they improve.
“I think it’s going to get worse, at least in the short term,” said Schulz. “I don’t know if there are many reasons to expect these numbers to improve in the short term.”
Loans, which allow consumers to divide purchases into several smaller payments, are a popular alternative to credit cards because they often do not charge interest. But consumers can see high rates if they pay late, and they can have problems if they stack multiple loans. In the loan survey, 60% of BNPL users said they had multiple loans at the same time, and almost a room says they have had three or more at the same time.
“It is really important that people are cautious when they use these things, because although they can be a very good tool without interest to help you achieve a payment check to another, there is also a lot of risk to manage it badly,” said Schulz. “Then people should step on slightly.”
The loan tree findings come later Billboard revealed That about 60% of Coachella’s general admission attendees financed their concert tickets with Buy now, they pay later loans, which caused a debate about the state of the economy and how consumers are using debt to maintain their lifestyles. A recent Dordash announcement that would begin accepting Klarna’s BNPL financing for food deliveries led to a generalized mockery and jokes that Americans were fighting so much that they were now being forced to finance hamburgers with cheese and burritos.
In recent years, consumers have remained relatively well, even in the face of persistent inflation and high interest rates, because the labor market was strong and salary growth had kept up to date with inflation, at least for some workers.
Earlier this year, however, large companies that include Walmart and Delta Airlines He began warning that the dynamics had begun to change and were seeing cracks in the demand, which led to worse sales forecasts than expected.
