Private credit’s appetite for consumer debt has gone from casual interest to full-blown obsession. Purchases of consumer loans, including buy now, pay later receivables, hit $136 billion in 2025. That’s roughly 14 times what they were the year before.
Nearly half of all BNPL users, 47%, reported making late payments in the past year, up from 41% in 2025 and 34% in 2024.
How private capital became BNPL’s backbone
The mechanics work through a few key channels. Forward-flow agreements, where investors commit to buying future loan receivables at predetermined terms. Warehouse facilities, essentially credit lines backed by pools of BNPL loans. And asset-backed securities, where BNPL debt gets packaged and sold to institutional investors.
Blue Owl and KKR have emerged as two of the most prominent backers fueling this expansion. KKR’s involvement is particularly notable: the firm has struck multi-year forward-flow agreements with PayPal worth up to €65 billion for European BNPL receivables, with commitments extending through 2028.
