KUALA LUMPUR: While the total transaction of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) has significantly increased, reaching RM12bil last year, it was revealed that the majority of users have been making repayments on time.
Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya said 88% of the users surveyed by the central bank showed that they are exhibiting good financial discipline and paying off their debts in full.
He added that another 12% missed the due date but made the full repayment.
Among the reasons for this was the users prioritised other repayments, unstable income and insufficient money.
He also highlighted that only 1% of the total surveyed individuals were unable to repay their debts in full.
“Most BNPL users are low-income and do not have access to other forms of personal financing.
“They are aware of the features, risks and value proposition associated with BNPL, have one or two accounts, exhibit good financial discipline and are able to repay their debts in full with low delinquency rates,” he told a media briefing yesterday.
It was also revealed that 73% of the users were in the B40 income group, earning below RM5,000 per month, followed by M40 with 21% and 6% were among the T20 income groups.
The survey found 56% of the respondents used BNPL services as a general personal financial tool to purchase essential and non-essential items.
The online survey was conducted by the Credit Consumer Oversight Board Taskforce from August to September last year and received responses from 21,070 active BNPL users in Malaysia.
According to earlier reports, BNPL financing scheme amounted to RM7.1bil in the second half of last year.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said this marked a significant increase compared to RM4.9bil in the first half of 2024.
