Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) is pleased to be supporting research being undertaken by academics from Swansea University and the University of Gloucestershire entitled: ‘Co-creating Intermediation Tools for Financially Vulnerable or Over-Indebted Buy-Now-Pay-Later Users‘.
Academic research carried out over the last few years has identified links between BNPL use and materialism, impulsivity, sales proneness and lack of financial self-control. In a 2023 paper by Zhao, A. L., & Ward, P. entitled ‘Why wait? Buy now pay later: Investigating the impact of deferred cashless payments on younger British consumers’, 500 UK BNPL users were surveyed. 30% used it ‘often or almost always’ and 1 in 3 were charged interest and late fees and used a credit card. Nearly 2 in 3 BNPL users liked the service and believed it is a good and wise idea despite the fact that 48% felt financially vulnerable.
The new MALG-backed project, being carried out between September 2025 and September 2026, aims to develop a toolkit for use with over-indebted BNPL users or those prone to overconsumption. Focused on the South Wales region, the researchers need participation from consumers (Gen Z and Millennials born 1980-2010) and debt advisers to co-design, co-test and co-revise a free, accessible, and appropriate tool designed to address the challenges raised by the growth in BNPL lending by building users’ knowledge and resilience.
