Fintech lenders in the United States are offering "rent now, pay later" loans that cover tenants' payments to landlords and are repaid in instalments, targeting consumers squeezed by housing costs, the Financial Times reported on 9 June.
The products extend buy now, pay later mechanics to rent, letting tenants split housing costs into smaller instalments. "People can make [rent payments], it's just the timing," said Wemimo Abbey, co-founder of Esusu, adding: "Recent inflation has been really sticky, but incomes are not going up."
MARKET DYNAMICS AND PROVIDER STRATEGIES
Providers include Flex, a rent-split lender that has processed $37 billion in rent payments since its 2019 launch, and Affirm, which announced a partnership with Esusu in January 2026 to let renters split monthly rent into instalments.
MARKET CONTEXT
According to Harvard University research cited in the report, 83 percent of renters earning less than $30,000 a year spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities in 2024, the level at which the US government considers households "cost burdened".
Sources: Financial Times; PYMNTS