Credit-Marginalized Consumers Turn to High-Interest Credit to Cover Emergency Expenses

The Credit Accessibility Series: Unexpected Expenses and the Demand for External Financing Solutions

Credit-marginalized consumers — those who have been rejected for at least one credit product in the past year — are 47% more likely than average to have faced an unexpected expense, and they were more than twice as likely to turn to high-interest credit products to cover the costs, according to PYMNTS Intelligence’s latest study of 2,521 consumers, “The Credit Accessibility Series: Unexpected Expenses and the Demand for External Financing Solutions,” a collaboration with Sezzle.

Inside the December Report
  • 81%: Portion of credit-marginalized consumers who faced unexpected costs in the past year also experienced further credit issues as a result
  • 7%: Share of consumers who use BNPL to pay for unexpected expenses
  • 30%: Portion of consumers who had their credit scores decline because of facing unexpected expenses

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    The Credit Accessibility Report

    The Credit Accessibility Series: Declining Purchasing Power Pushes Consumers to Improve Credit Scores
    The Credit Accessibility Series: Economic Malaise Exacerbating U.S. Consumer Debt Levels
    How Consumers Use Overdrafts
    The Credit Insecure Need More Education
    BNPL's Wide-Ranging Impact on Consumers and Merchants
    How Credit Insecurity is Changing U.S. Consumers’ Borrowing Habits