CRL responded to the New York Department of Financial Services Request for Information Regarding Buy Now Pay Later, which requested comments from industry and interested parties on the “Buy-Now-Pay-Later Act" (L.2025, c. 58, Part Y, New York Banking Law Article 14-B). This law represents an essential step towards better protecting New York consumers from financial harm. Specifically, the Act provides for licensing and supervision of Buy Now Pay Later lenders doing business in New York. The Act requires adherence to New York’s rate cap and the establishment of maximum fee limits, disclosures, and dispute rights that apply to credit cards.
In this comment, CRL supports the law and discusses how Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products and the entities providing them will benefit from additional supervision, monitoring, and research in order to minimize any potential of unintended consumer harm. CRL also points out the lack of oversight and missing information on BNPL, details certain experiences among consumers and some of the harms associated with using these products, and describes how implementing regulations on ability to repay, fees, and rate cap compliance might be structured to address them.