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AAP
AAP
Adrian Black

Buy now, pay later rules reveal hidden financial stress

Companies like Zip first revealed their digital credit alternatives more than a decade ago. (Derek Rose/AAP PHOTOS)

Four times as many Australians are officially struggling to pay off buy now, pay later loans since the disruptive credit offering came under national regulations, which means the reforms are working, a credit expert says.

Documented hardship rates - when borrowers are temporarily unable to meet credit payments - for BNPL agreements rose from 0.06 per cent in June 2025 to 0.24 per cent in March 2026.

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