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Washington committee hears DFI overview of buy‑now‑pay‑later, data gaps and legal gray areas
Summary
The Department of Financial Institutions told the Consumer Protection and Business Committee BNPL products are growing rapidly but often fall outside Washington's retail‑installment law; DFI and advocates urged state data collection and targeted regulation while noting consumer risks from automatic debits and limited disclosure.
The Washington State Consumer Protection and Business Committee held a Jan. 13 work session on buy‑now‑pay‑later payment products, where the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) described how BNPL works, the size of the market and limits to current oversight.
DFI policy director Drew Bowden told lawmakers BNPL typically offers four or more installments at the point of sale, usually with no interest or origination fee, automatic electronic payments and sometimes only soft credit checks. "It's a short term consumer…
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