BNPL draft legislation consultation closes

The consultation on draft legislation to bring Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) products into regulation closed at 11:59pm on 29 November 2024, HM Treasury has confirmed. The consultation, published on 17 October 2024, set out the government's plans for regulating the BNPL market¹.

The government said its plans aim to ensure people using BNPL products receive clear information, avoid unaffordable borrowing, and have strong rights when issues arise. It said its approach would maintain access to a popular product while adding safeguards¹. The consultation followed an earlier HM Treasury consultation that ran between February and April 2023¹.

In its response to the consultation, the government said respondents expressed a strong desire for action in this area and were generally supportive of the proposed regulatory regime¹.

The government also said that, following further industry and Financial Conduct Authority engagement, it had decided to exempt domestic premises suppliers from requiring credit broking permissions to offer BNPL products as payment options¹.

Why it matters for households

BNPL lets shoppers split the cost of a purchase into instalments, often interest-free at the point of sale. The government's stated aims for regulation are that users receive clear information, avoid unaffordable borrowing, and have strong rights when issues arise¹. The consultation documents describe the current position as one in which, without regulation, there are risks¹.

The practical effect for households depends on the final rules, which are not yet in force. The consultation itself does not set out the date on which the regime would begin, and no commencement date has been reported in the material published alongside it. What has been confirmed is the exemption for domestic premises suppliers from credit broking permissions when offering BNPL as a payment option¹.

What happens next

The government said it will proceed to lay the draft affirmative statutory instrument, The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities etc.) (Amendment) Order 2025, to bring BNPL products into regulation¹. The consultation page records that the draft order was published on 21 May 2025, and that the consultation response was added on 19 May 2025¹. The page was last updated on 16 June 2025¹. No date for the instrument coming into force has been reported.

For background on how the rules are expected to work, see Deferred Payment Credit: the new buy now pay later rules and Is buy now pay later regulated by the FCA?.