Klarna, the AI-powered global payments provider and shopping assistant, has revealed UK consumers paid off 97.4% of Black Friday orders on time or early, an increase of 2% compared with last year. The data comes as Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey declared yesterday that the UK’s recession may already be over.
Over half (51%) of purchases were paid off early, ahead of their due date. In stark contrast, a third of consumers in the UK did not think they would be able to pay off their Christmas credit card bill in full, at a time when credit card interest rates are at their highest in 27 years according to Bank of England data, while banks continue to report their biggest annual profits since the 2007 financial crisis.
In 2023, Klarna processed a record number of Black Friday orders, as consumers shun predatory credit cards in favor of interest-free BNPL options. Klarna continues to grow, with over 18 million UK customers and its fastest-growing age group being the over-60s, showing that all generations see the benefits of BNPL as a healthier credit option to credit cards.
The data rebuts numerous warnings from media and campaign groups around the dangers of BNPL and correlates with a recent report published by Experian. Unlike most reports on BNPL, Experian’s is based on real-world transactional data. The report found that those who use BNPL are 13.4% less likely to be over-indebted or behind on all credit payments than people who don’t use BNPL.
“Our BNPL products offer a fairer alternative to predatory credit cards, with short-term payment cycles and no ability to revolve. It’s not in our interest to lend to those who can’t afford to repay, which is why we make a new lending decision on each and every transaction, and restrict the use of our products if repayments are missed. By publishing this data, we hope to show that our consumers are smart and responsible shoppers,” said Raji Behal, Head of Western and Southern Europe at Klarna.