CFPB says buy now, pay later lenders must provide legal protections

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule that confirms that buy now, pay later lenders are credit card providers. Accordingly, such lenders must provide consumers some key legal protections and rights that apply to conventional credit cards, the agency said in a statement. These include a right to dispute charges and demand a refund from the lender after returning a product purchased with a buy now, pay later loan. Publicly traded buy now, pay later providers include Affirm (AFRM), Block’s (SQ) Afterpay and PayPal (PYPL).