We started regulating Deferred Payment Credit (DPC), often known as Buy Now Pay Later, on 15 July 2026. Find out what this means for firms that offer DPC agreements.
The Government previously decided to bring DPC, more commonly known as Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), under our regulation.
Who this applies to
DPC agreements provided by third-party lenders are now regulated credit agreements. This means that a DPC agreement is regulated where:
- The lender and the supplier of goods or services are not the same person.
- There is an arrangement between a merchant and a lender, so that the lender becomes the legal supplier of goods and services to the customer.
DPC agreements provided by third-party lenders are not regulated where they are:
- Used to finance premiums under contracts of insurance.
- Funding employee borrowing.
- Provided by registered social landlords to their tenants, leaseholders or, in Scotland, the shared owner under a shared ownership agreement to finance the provision of goods and services.
- Entered into before regulation day.
Broking of DPC agreements is exempt from regulation.
What firms need to know
From 15 July 2026 onwards, any DPC lender who enters into a DPC agreement will need to:
- Be authorised for the relevant consumer credit activities or have a temporary permission under the DPC temporary permissions regime (TPR); and
- Comply with our regulatory rules.
Any DPC agreements entered into before regulation day will remain exempt.
Please note:
- Registration for the TPR has now closed.
- If your firm doesn't currently hold the relevant consumer credit permissions, or already have the relevant DPC temporary permission, you can’t enter into any new DPC agreements.
- If you want to start providing DPC agreements, you will need to be authorised by us as a consumer credit lender before you can do so. However, you can continue to service any DPC agreements that were taken out before regulation day, as those agreements remain exempt.
Find out more about authorisation for consumer credit firms.
Register of lenders with temporary permission
The following firms are registered for the TPR and can continue providing DPC after 15 July 2026:
- Access Fertility (Access Fertility Ltd)
- Cashbox (Tameside Credit Union)
- Clearpay (Clearpay Finance Ltd)
- Manchester Credit Union
- Medicred (Medicred Ltd)
- The Money Co-op (Metro Moneywise Credit Union)
- Oldham Credit Union
- PayItMonthly (PayItMonthly Ltd)
- PLIM (PLIM Ltd)
- PollenPay (PollenPay UK Ltd)
- Remedi Finance (Remedi Finance Ltd)
- Salford Credit Union Limited
- South Manchester Credit Union
- Zero Down Lease (Leasehold Finance Ltd)
- Zeropa (Zeropa Holdings Ltd)
Our aims for regulation
We want our regulatory regime for DPC to reduce the risks of harm to consumers. We want to be proportionate, so that the DPC market can continue to innovate and grow sustainably, and that consumers can still access DPC where appropriate.
We want DPC firms to operate to high standards and deliver good outcomes for consumers. As part of that, our approach to regulation seeks to ensure that DPC lenders:
- Give information to consumers that helps them make effective, timely and informed decisions about their DPC borrowing, both before they enter into an agreement and throughout its duration.
- Lend responsibly and affordably.
- Support customers who are facing financial difficulty.
We also want better, more timely information about the DPC market and customer outcomes so that we can supervise firms effectively. We therefore require fully authorised firms to provide us with product sales data about their DPC lending.
