Poland
Status
No steps taken to introduce local law regulating BNPL service.
Is the country considering regulation?
No.
Current state of regulation regarding BNPL?
In general, BNPL services fall under the Consumer Credit Act, which implements the Consumer Credit Directive. However, as long as the BNPL provider does not impose any cost on the consumer, an agreement for the provision of a BNPL service is exempt from the Consumer Credit Act. There is discussion about whether, in such case, the Consumer Credit Act is exempted only with respect to the BNPL agreement or also with respect to BNPL service providers. If the Consumer Credit Act is only exempted with respect to the BNPL agreement while being deemed applicable to BNPL service providers, such providers will be considered lending companies and subject to entry in the lending companies register maintained by the KNF (i.e. Polish Financial Supervision Authority) and to KNF supervision starting from January 2024.
In the case of a BNPL service that is not free of charge, the Consumer Credit Act will apply. According to the Polish Civil Code, the interest rates are limited to the maximum amount capped by law (currently parties cannot agree an interest rate amount higher than 20% p.a. and 24.5% p.a. in the case of late payment interest). In addition to that, the Consumer Credit Act in Poland imposes a cap on the non-interest cost of consumer credit. In the case of a consumer loan which is exempt from the Consumer Credit Act, the non-interest cost of such loan is capped by the Civil Code.
Outline the proposals to change regulation?
None.
