Source: The New York Times
BNPL providers are abandoning their original niche—discretionary purchases like fashion and electronics—to finance groceries, utilities, and medical care. With $160 billion in annual spending nearly doubled in two years, lenders have saturated the luxury goods segment and now need growth vectors, even as regulatory scrutiny intensifies and consumer debt-to-income ratios rise. The shift is toward financing necessity spending as high-margin credit products, converting household budget shortfalls into a captive financing opportunity rather than offering merchant innovation.