KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 1.4 million "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) accounts have been registered by credit providers in just the first six months of 2025, says Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying.
She said that the drastic growth of BNPL accounts poses a risk to vulnerable credit consumers, particularly those without fixed incomes or with poor financial literacy.
"The volume of BNPL transactions increased from 83.8 million transactions in the second half of 2024 to 102.6 million transactions in the first quarter of 2025," she said when tabling the Consumer Credit Bill for second reading in Parliament on Monday (July 21).
She said the total value of BNPL transactions also increased from RM7.1bil in the second half of 2024 to RM9.3bil for the first quarter of this year, representing a 31% increase.
"The number of active BNPL accounts has also increased from 5.1 million accounts at the end of 2024 to 6.5 million accounts as of June 2025," she said.
Lim said laws are needed to supervise the consumer credit industry as there are currently providers that are not regulated under the law.
She said this has lead to businesses that target vulnerable consumers, with some engaging debt collectors and some resorting to threats and extreme intimidation.
She said the Credit Consumers Bill would help supervise the growing industry to act in a more transparent and responsible manner
Among the provisions is the establishment of a Consumer Credit Commission (CCC) as the new authority regulating non-bank credit providers and credit service providers in the country, she said.
The Credit Consumers Bill was tabled in Dewan Rakyat for its first reading in March this year and is expected to be passed by the Lower House later on Monday.
