Buy Now, Pay Later Tops $1 Billion on Cyber Monday: How to Keep Holiday Installments From Becoming January Debt

The 2025 holiday shopping season set another record, and a growing share of it was financed in installments. According to Adobe’s analysis of online retail data, consumers spent $14.25 billion online on Cyber Monday, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans drove $1.03 billion of that spending, an all-time high for a single day ¹. For households already juggling credit card balances, those small installments deserve a closer look before the first payments come due.

The Numbers Behind the Record

Adobe reported that Cyber Week, the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, brought in $44.2 billion in online spending, up 7.7 percent year over year ¹. From November 1 through December 1, BNPL accounted for $10.1 billion in online spending, up 9.0 percent ¹. Most BNPL purchases happened on phones, which made up 79.4 percent of BNPL transactions on Cyber Monday ¹. In an Adobe consumer survey conducted in November, respondents named electronics, clothing, toys and furniture as the categories where they were most inclined to pay with BNPL ¹.

Adobe expects total online holiday spending from November 1 through December 31 to reach $253.4 billion ¹.

Why Installments Can Add Up Quickly

BNPL loans usually split a purchase into four or fewer interest-free payments, often with the first payment due at checkout ³. The appeal is obvious, but federal research shows how quickly these loans can pile up. A January 2025 study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, based on loan data from six large BNPL providers matched with credit records, found that in 2022 ²³:

• About 63 percent of BNPL borrowers had more than one BNPL loan open at the same time at some point during the year, and 33 percent borrowed from more than one BNPL company ³.
• Roughly 20 percent were heavy users who took out more than one BNPL loan per month on average ³.
• BNPL borrowers tended to carry higher balances on credit cards, personal loans and other unsecured debt than other consumers ³.
• Nearly two-thirds of BNPL loans went to borrowers with subprime or deep subprime credit scores ³.

One reason these loans are easy to lose track of: BNPL lenders typically have not reported the loans to the nationwide credit reporting companies ²³. A shopper may have five or six payment plans running across different apps, and none of them may appear on a credit report.

Federal oversight has also shifted. In May 2024, the CFPB issued an interpretive rule stating that BNPL lenders must provide some of the dispute and refund protections that apply to credit cards ³. In May 2025, the CFPB withdrew that interpretive rule along with many other guidance documents ⁴. Consumers should not assume that every protection associated with a credit card applies to a BNPL plan.

Practical Steps Before January

For South Florida families who leaned on installments this season, a few habits can prevent a holiday purchase from turning into a lasting problem:

• Make one list. Write down every open BNPL plan, the provider, the remaining payments and the due dates. Because many plans are not on a credit report ², this list may be the only complete record.
• Watch the payment account. When plans draw automatically from a debit card or bank account, several payments landing in the same week can leave too little for other bills.
• Count BNPL as debt. Installments are owed money, even when they carry no interest, and they compete with rent, car payments and credit card minimums.
• Pause before adding more. Since borrowers who stack BNPL loans also tend to carry higher credit card balances ³, one more plan can tip an already stretched budget.

When installments, credit cards and other bills reach the point where minimum payments are no longer manageable, it helps to review all the options early, while there are still choices to make. That review should include every BNPL plan, since these debts are easy to overlook.

Anyone in South Florida weighing their options can request a confidential consultation with The Roca Law Firm, in English or Spanish.