By David Henry

(Reuters) – Borrowers who apply for “buy now, pay later” or other point-of-sale financing tend not to pay down their credit card debts as much as the general population, credit reporting company TransUnion (NYSE:) said on Thursday.

According to a recent study, credit card lenders may not have suffered as much as they were thought during the “buy now and pay later” crisis.

Liz Pagel from TransUnion, Senior Vice President for Consumer Loans, stated, “These new forms financing are growing credit pie, opening more opportunities for both consumer and lender.”

This study examined credit reports of over 4.5 million individuals who had applied for point-of sale financing between October 2019 and March 2019.

TransUnion revealed that only 54% of applicants had reduced their debts, as compared to 60%. Some 20% of those who applied increased their card debt more than 50%.

Though financial technology companies have lured shoppers https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-consumers-pay-later-idUSKBN2A8036 with the additional ways to borrow, big banks have continued to predict that card lending revenue will increase as card balances rebound from being paid down during coronavirus lockdowns.

This study didn’t determine the cost of “buy now, and pay later” card lending.

A separate TransUnion survey found that one third of those who used “buy now and pay later” plans said they would use a credit card if the plan was not available.

TransUnion stated that applicants do not seem to increase the chance of losing existing loans. Their credit card delinquency rates six months after they applied were slightly lower than that of the general populace at 3.2% versus 2.7%.

Pagel explained that consumers do not seem to be over-leveraging at this time.