New BNPL Data Reveals Surprising Truths, Repeat Spenders Most Responsible

Qlarifi has completed the first real-time, multi-provider study of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) usage, revealing that 1 in 4 users make a new transaction every five days, and most use BNPL monthly.  

In fact, high-usage consumers are more reliable, with defaults concentrated in lower-ticket, one-off purchases by older or first-time users. This challenges the narrative that BNPL is primarily driven by impulsive Gen Z and millennial spending.

Instead, the data paints a more optimistic picture of BNPL as a tool used responsibly and as designed by repeat consumers. It also highlights where new protections are needed most, and how real time, cross provider data is critical for true risk reduction.

The pilot, run initially in Italy with partners including Qomodo, analysed more than 6 million transactions over six months. By leveraging anonymised transaction and repayment data across multiple Italian BNPL providers, the project offers the clearest picture yet of real-world BNPL behaviour.  

Key insights include:

• Older users (55–64) showed higher default rates than Gen Z
• Small-ticket purchases (under £65) drive the highest default rates
• Most users have around £150 outstanding when taking on another loan
• BNPL isn’t just for Gen Z: nearly 1 in 3 users are aged 45+
• First-time consumers are twice as likely to default than more experienced users 
• High-frequency use does not correlate with higher default rates

These landmark findings challenge the often youth-focused narrative of BNPL risk, showing that age is not a proxy for creditworthiness and that high usage is not linked to higher default rates. 

“People are no longer making one-off purchases,” said Alex Naughton, CEO of Qlarifi. “BNPL is growing up, and our data shows that real time, cross-provider usage is the only way to accurately improve outcomes for consumers using BNPL. This is a blind spot in traditional scoring models.”

With the average exposure across active loans was just £150, in BNPL, defaults aren’t being driven by large purchases, but by lower-value borrowing. The results call into question the belief that big-ticket items purchased by frequent users pose more risk. Instead, the real risks may come from one-off low-value borrowing and overlooked user cohorts, like inexperienced or older users. 

Regulators need to rethink who needs protection, and consumers shouldn’t be punished for using BNPL as it’s designed.   

“For the first time, a BNPL study was designed in partnership with the industry to better serve the lenders and consumers. The result is a flexible data furnishing model for ease of integration and a privacy conscious real time report for precise underwriting,” said Loic Berthou, CTO of Qlarifi.

“Qlarifi gave us access to insights we didn’t even know we were missing,” said Gianluca Cocco, CEO of Qomodo. “It helped us identify high-risk customers earlier, but just as importantly, it highlighted users with strong payment behaviour we might have unfairly restricted. It’s enabled us to act faster, more fairly, and more accurately – protecting consumers while lowering our own costs.”

As regulators adapt oversight frameworks for BNPL, Qlarifi’s data offers predictive, behavioural signals that are far more informative than traditional credit data. These insights directly support the proportionality principles now being explored in BNPL regulation, enabling protections that reflect real patterns of risk, rather than outdated assumptions.

“Italy offers a stress-test environment with growing BNPL use and structured regulation,” Naughton added. “It gives an unvarnished view of usage patterns, helping us move from assumption to evidence. If you want to protect decisions with proportionate and reliable data, Qlarifi is critical. This data should be seriously considered as a primary source for consumer protection and risk reduction, because the majority of BNPL users simply aren’t visible under traditional schemes, and our pilot shows that most assumptions made are simply incorrect.”

With BNPL regulation under active review in multiple jurisdictions, these findings arrive at a crucial moment. This pilot is part of a broader initiative to bring transparency, fairness, and long-term sustainability to the BNPL ecosystem by helping providers tailor protections without over-correcting.

The study was conducted across a diverse set of BNPL providers. All findings were anonymised and aggregated to uphold data privacy standards while enabling systemic insights.

Qlarifi’s solution is now rolling out across Europe, the UK and US.