Paylater Leading to Excessive Debt Among Society, OJK Tightens BNPL Oversight

JAKARTA - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is tightening oversight of buy now pay later (BNPL) or paylater services amid increasing risks of the public becoming trapped in excessive debt (over-indebtedness). OJK Commissioner Council Chair Friderica Widyasari Dewi stated that paylater actually provides convenience for the public to make purchases with deferred payments. However, behind this convenience, OJK assesses that the current trend in paylater usage is starting to pose risks that need to be anticipated. “If we look at the available data, it is causing a lot of over-indebtedness, or in trendy terms, too much debt,” said the woman familiarly known as Kiki at the RI DPR Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday (1/4/2026). The gross non-performing financing (NPF) ratio has risen from the previous month’s 2.73% to 2.77%. Meanwhile, the outstanding paylater credit balance in banking grew 20.15% year-on-year to Rp27.1 trillion. The number of accounts using this credit product increased from the previous 31.21 million to 31.23 million accounts. Kiki noted that the phenomenon of rising debt through paylater products has become a focus for regulators in various countries and a topic of discussion in various international forums such as the OECD/INFE. This is because the product, which has only been launched in recent years, has surprisingly attracted many consumers. However, on the other hand, it is driving an increase in consumer debt, especially among young people. “So, as regulators, we need to monitor this so that it doesn’t balloon too much. This certainly has many impacts, both on the financial services sector itself and on consumer society,” she said. “We must not let young people start buying unimportant, unproductive things from a young age, then end up with too much debt and so on,” she added. Therefore, OJK believes there needs to be a balance between benefits and risks so that BNPL does not have a negative impact on the public’s financial condition. In its oversight, OJK applies a comprehensive approach to the BNPL industry, whether channelled through financing companies or banking.