Influencers Promoting Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): What the EU's Consumer Credit Rules Mean From 20 November 2026

Short answer: BNPL formally becomes consumer credit from 20 November 2026

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) — splitting a purchase into instalments at checkout, usually 3 or 4, usually interest-free — has so far sat in a grey area between "just a payment method" and an actual consumer loan. That grey area closes on 20 November 2026, when the EU's revised Consumer Credit Directive, Directive (EU) 2023/2225, must be applied in every Member State, and when Denmark simultaneously tightens its own exemption for interest-free deferred payment from 90 days to 50. For an influencer recommending a BNPL option in a post, this isn't only the provider's problem: even today, phrases like "interest-free" or "0 kr in fees" already trigger a separate disclosure duty under Danish marketing law — and from 2026, the link between BNPL and consumer-credit regulation becomes much harder to treat as a technicality.

This article covers what actually changes at EU level and in Denmark, who genuinely carries the liability, and what it means for how an influencer or brand phrases a post that mentions a BNPL option. For the wider context BNPL sits inside — the Danish influencer marketing market generally — see what does the Danish influencer marketing market look like?

What BNPL actually is, and why it needs its own rules

BNPL is a checkout feature that lets a consumer split a purchase into several instalments — typically 3 or 4 — usually with no interest charged if every instalment is paid on time. It differs from a classic consumer loan by being short-term (often under 3 months) and usually fee-free unless a payment is late. That combination — short duration, no interest, no visible application process — is exactly why many BNPL arrangements have historically sat outside classic consumer-credit regulation: the law was built around interest-bearing loans, not a "split into 4" button at checkout.

Closing that grey area is precisely what the revised Consumer Credit Directive is designed to do.

EU level: Directive (EU) 2023/2225

The revised Consumer Credit Directive was published in the EU's Official Journal on 30 October 2023 and entered into force on 19 November 2023. Member States had to adopt their national implementing legislation by 20 November 2025, and the rules themselves must be applied from 20 November 2026 — the date that actually matters for Danish businesses and influencers.

The directive's own Recital 16 addresses BNPL directly: schemes where a creditor grants credit for the exclusive purpose of financing a consumer's purchase of goods or services, and which are often granted free of interest and without other charges, "should therefore be included" within the directive's scope — an explicit correction of the older assumption that interest-free credit fell outside regulation by default.

Recital 17 sets a narrow exemption: a supplier's own deferred payment — interest-free and without charges beyond a limited late-payment fee — can still be excluded from scope. But for "large online suppliers," that exemption is limited to a payment window of no more than 14 days, specifically to stop large players from re-labelling a genuine credit arrangement as a mere "deferred payment."

The directive also changes the monetary boundaries of what counts as consumer credit at all: the previous lower threshold is abolished, and the upper limit is raised to €100,000 — per multiple independent legal sources (Hogan Lovells, LexisNexis), since the directive text itself doesn't state the earlier ceiling in the sources this article could verify directly.

Denmark: the exemption threshold drops from 90 to 50 days

Denmark implements the directive by expanding the scope of the Consumer Loan Companies Act ("lov om forbrugslånsvirksomheder"). The concrete, practical shift for BNPL: Denmark's existing exemption for interest-free, fee-free deferred payment — which has so far covered deferrals of up to 90 days from delivery, with no external credit provider involved — narrows from 20 November 2026 to cover only deferrals of up to 50 days. This is confirmed independently by both the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv) and the Danish law firm Plesner.

In practice: a company that currently offers customers an interest-free payment deferral of, say, 60 or 75 days without using an external credit provider moves from being exempt to needing Finanstilsynet (the Danish FSA) approval as a consumer loan company — the same licensing route as a classic lender. Finanstilsynet can process applications from 20 May 2026, and companies that submit an application by 20 November 2026 can continue operating while the application is under review. Offering consumer credit without the required licence can, per Dansk Erhverv, be punished with a fine or up to four months' imprisonment — but that liability sits with the company actually extending the credit, not with an influencer who simply mentions it.

Why it matters when an influencer mentions BNPL

Two separate disclosure duties can apply to the same post, and it's easy to only think about one of them:

• The ordinary ad-disclosure duty applies if the influencer gets a commercial benefit from mentioning the option — commission from the BNPL provider, or from the merchant offering it. See the full walkthrough in influencer marketing disclosure rules in Denmark and the EU.
• The specific credit-marketing disclosure duty under Markedsføringsloven § 18 is a separate rule that already applies today, independent of the 2026 changes. Per Forbrugerombudsmanden's own guidance, § 18's standardised information requirements are triggered as soon as marketing mentions a specific numerical claim about the cost of credit — and that explicitly includes phrasing like "the credit is interest-free" or "zero fees," not only marketing for interest-bearing credit. The information has to be shown clearly, briefly and prominently — it isn't enough for it to sit behind a link the consumer has to click.

The practical takeaway for a brief: a caption that says "split into 4, completely interest-free" isn't just describing a payment option — it's a numerical claim about the cost of credit, and that's exactly the kind of phrasing § 18 is written to catch. As BNPL formally counts as consumer credit from 20 November 2026 rather than sitting in a grey area, it becomes harder, in Make Influence's view, to argue that this kind of post falls outside credit-marketing rules — though that's our own reading of how the pieces connect, not a published regulator guidance specifically about influencer posts.

Decision framework: does this need extra thought before you mention BNPL?

IF the influencer gets a commercial benefit from mentioning the BNPL option (commission, payment, a free product) → the post needs ad disclosure under the ordinary rules, regardless of whether the BNPL element itself triggers anything.

IF the post states a specific numerical claim about the cost of credit — "interest-free," "0 kr in fees," "split into 4" — → per Forbrugerombudsmanden's guidance, that triggers § 18's standardised-disclosure requirement, shown clearly and prominently, not behind a link.

IF you're unsure whether the specific BNPL provider or merchant holds the necessary Finanstilsynet licence — especially for deferrals over 50 days → ask the partner directly before the campaign goes live. It isn't the influencer's legal responsibility, but a brand actively promoting an unlicensed credit arrangement risks its own reputation.

IF the post's audience clearly skews young or financially vulnerable → be extra careful with language that could read as encouraging debt; that sits outside this article's legal scope, but it's a genuine reputational question independent of what the law strictly requires.

Worked example (hypothetical, illustrative only)

The figures and scenario below are invented for illustration — not a real Make Influence customer or a named brand.

An influencer posts: "Split your purchase into 4 payments of DKK 500 — completely interest-free with [BNPL provider]," and earns an 8% commission on the purchase value through an affiliate link to the provider. A DKK 2,000 purchase splits into 4 × DKK 500, and the influencer earns 2,000 × 8% = DKK 160 on the post.

Two things apply at the same time. First, the commission triggers the ordinary ad-disclosure duty regardless of the amount. Second, the phrase "completely interest-free" triggers Markedsføringsloven § 18's disclosure requirement, because it states a specific numerical claim about the cost of credit. If the underlying deferral in this example is 45 days, it stays under Denmark's new 50-day threshold and doesn't itself require the provider to hold a Finanstilsynet licence; if the deferral were 60 days without an external credit provider, the provider would need that licence from 20 November 2026 — worth confirming before the partnership is agreed. That same commission income is, incidentally, taxable and can trigger VAT registration in the same way as any other affiliate commission — see affiliate influencer marketing in Denmark for how Danish tax and VAT rules apply to that income.

FAQ

Does the influencer need their own Finanstilsynet licence to mention BNPL?

No. The licensing requirement applies to the company actually extending the credit — typically the BNPL provider itself, or in some cases the merchant. An influencer who mentions or recommends the option doesn't need Finanstilsynet approval themselves. The ordinary rules on ad disclosure and credit-cost information still apply to the content, though.

Is "0 kr in interest" enough on its own to trigger the § 18 disclosure requirement?

Yes. Per Forbrugerombudsmanden's own guidance, the standardised disclosure requirements trigger as soon as marketing mentions a specific numerical claim about the cost of credit — that explicitly includes phrasing like the credit being "interest-free" or having "zero fees," not only marketing for credit that actually carries interest.

When exactly do the new rules take effect?

The directive entered into force on 19 November 2023, and EU countries had to adopt their implementing legislation by 20 November 2025. The rules themselves must be applied from 20 November 2026 — that's the date that matters in practice for Danish businesses and influencers.

Does this mean every "split the payment" option now needs a licence?

No. Only deferred payments that either run longer than the new 50-day Danish threshold, or that involve an external credit provider, fall under the licensing requirement. A short, interest-free deferral offered directly by the merchant itself can still be exempt — but the threshold is tighter than before 20 November 2026.

Do the rules also apply if the BNPL provider is based in another EU country?

Directive (EU) 2023/2225 has been transposed into national law across the EU, and as a general rule it's the national law of the country where the consumer is located that governs marketing aimed at Danish consumers — but the specific cross-border details sit outside the depth of this article and should be checked with the particular provider.

Is this the same thing as the ordinary ad-disclosure rule for influencer posts?

No, they're two separate rules that can both apply to the same post. See influencer marketing disclosure rules in Denmark and the EU for the ordinary rule on when a post has to be marked as an ad.

Is BNPL's "interest-free" disclosure duty the same as the EU's one-click cancellation rule?

No — they're two separate EU consumer-protection rules that can both matter for the same influencer post. BNPL's credit-cost disclosure duty is about the accuracy of a payment-cost claim; the EU's withdrawal-function rule is about how easy it is to back out of any online contract within the first 14 days. See the EU's one-click cancellation rule and what it means when an influencer promotes a subscription for the second rule.

Does this article's regulation also cover Klarna's Creator Platform, its affiliate marketplace for creators?

No — they're entirely different parts of Klarna's business. This article's Consumer Credit Directive rules apply to Klarna's BNPL checkout financing product. Klarna Creator Platform is a separate affiliate and brand-deal marketplace with its own commission mechanics, unrelated to consumer credit. See Klarna's Creator Platform for how that product works, including a separate, unrelated US lawsuit against a third Klarna product, its consumer shopping browser extension.

Make Influence's recommendation

We recommend making BNPL language a standing item in the brief, the same way ad disclosure already is: write the approved wording about "interest-free" claims or the number of instalments directly into the brief, rather than leaving it to the creator's phrasing in the moment. If the collaboration involves commission from a BNPL provider — for example as part of an affiliate arrangement — the brief should address the ad-disclosure duty directly too, not only the credit-cost information requirement. And if the campaign's audience clearly skews young, it's worth thinking through the language extra carefully in our experience — not because the law specifically requires it for that age group here, but because the consequences of casual debt framing land harder on a younger audience. See marketing to children and teenagers through influencers for the rules that apply specifically when the audience is under 18.