Buy Now, Pay Later Comes of Age with Generation X

Gen X and Boomers are taking a bigger piece of the buy now, pay later (BNPL) pie. Americans over 54 increased their BNPL usage by a whopping 98% in 9 months!²

Think Millennials and Gen Z are still BNPL’s predominant user base? That’s old news. Gen X is fast adopting this digital take on installment payments.

BNPL is no longer just for those young whipper-snappers anymore. Yes, it’s still true that three-quarters of U.S. BNPL users are Millennials and Gen Z.¹ But those older generations familiar with layaway plans and offline credit programs are starting to get wise to it. But how do we know?

BNPL usage is growing exponentially across generations

55.8% of Americans, regardless of age, report that they have used BNPL as of March 2021.² That’s an increase of nearly 50% in one year.²

Gen X represents the next big wave of BNPL adoption

The fastest-growing age group to adopt BNPL is Americans over the age of 54.³ Between July 2020 and March 2021, their usage of BNPL grew by 98%.³

Why does this matter? Well, Gen X has big spending power...

Gen X spends more money than Millennials – as much as 1/3 more annually. The ‘Forgotten Generation’ pays out around $2.4 trillion per year.⁴

Which makes sense – they're older than Gen Z and Millenials, and more likely to have children and/or aging parents to care for and mortages to pay.

The good news is they’re already heavy users of PayPal and Pay in 4. For PayPal Pay in 4:

• Gen X makes up 30% of users⁵

• More than 50% of Gen X customers are repeat users.⁶

Open the doors to Gen X and their dollars with Pay in 4. Gen X & Boomers will make up ⅓ of total BNPL users by 2025.¹ Check out our infographic for more.