We've spoken about it before, but this story keeps getting bigger: one in four users of the two leading Buy Now Pay Later payment systems are now classified as 'older'.

Perhaps it's the dread of what credit cards can get you in for or curiosity about this new non-interest product?

Read our media release below and click the image to see my recent interview on the new media platform Tickernews.co.

PRESS RELEASE

According to exclusive new data, nearly one in four Afterpay and Zip users are now aged 45 and older.

For Afterpay, this represents a 229% increase since 20151, when this mature-aged cohort accounted for just 7 in 100 users. For Zip, this marks a 49% growth since December 2014.

The representation of 18-24-year-olds as a proportion of total users has dropped by 54% over the same period for Afterpay and by 18% for Zip.

The new data confirms a structural shift in Australia's consumer credit market as Buy Now Pay Later enters the mainstream and traditional credit continues to fall in popularity.

An Afterpay or Zip user is now almost as likely to be over 35 as they are under 35, casting doubt on the claim of bank bosses such as ANZ's Shayne Elliott that Afterpay customers are not attractive to traditional banks.

The RBA recently reported that total credit card purchases fell 6.2% in the year to December 2020. RBA data also shows that Australians closed almost 1 million credit card accounts and paid down their credit card balances by $7.25 billion in the year to November 2020.

The two trends are generally considered to be connected. The new Afterpay and Zip data reveals:

Just over half of Afterpay or Zip users are aged younger than 35 (55% & 52% respectively)

Just under half of Afterpay or Zip users are 35 and over (45% and 48% respectively)

2% of users of either service are over 65.

Christopher Zinn, consumer campaigner and spokesman for the FiftyUp Club, says, "This discredits the stereotype that Buy-Now-Pay-Later services are a niche product aimed at young consumers.

"These services are now mainstream and being used by older members of the community, who are showing they are open to innovative financial services such as this, where they make sense."