BNPL merchant fees get passed to all U.S. consumers through higher prices, regardless of whether they use the financing, according to Protect Borrowers, a consumer-debt advocacy group formed in 2018 by former CFPB officials. Fees can run up to triple a credit card transaction and roughly 10 times a debit card, and the report seeks federal regulation including a borrower bill of rights to cap fees and limit interest rates. Trade groups including the American Fintech Council and Financial Technology Association dismissed the claim as unsubstantiated opinion, and the group’s own executive director conceded it has no transaction data and relies on superficial observation.
