Consultation outcome

Regulation of Buy-Now Pay-Later: consultation

From:: HM Treasury
Published: 21 October 2021
Last updated: 20 June 2022 — See all updates

Download the full outcome

Consultation Response

PDF, 339 KB, 39 pages

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Detail of outcome

The government has carefully reviewed the responses to the consultation. This document summarises these responses and sets out how the government intends to regulate Buy-Now Pay-Later products. It also seeks further stakeholder views on merchant-provided short-term interest-free credit to enable a final decision on the scope of regulation. Given the complexity of this regulation, the government intends to publish and consult on draft legislation at the end of the year.

Original consultation

Consultation description

On 2 February 2021, the government announced its intention to bring unregulated interest-free BNPL products into regulation given the potential risk of consumer detriment highlighted in ‘The Woolard Review A review of change and innovation in the unsecured credit market.’ This consultation sets out policy options to achieve a proportionate approach to regulation of BNPL. The consultation considers the potential scope of regulation, to target as closely as possible products where consumer detriment could arise. It also seeks views on a range of regulatory controls that could be put in place for BNPL, so that they are focused on those elements of lending practice that are most closely linked to the potential consumer detriment in this market.

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