Ask drivers what matters most when choosing where to get their car serviced or repaired, and the answer is not price.

found that ‘trust and reliability’ is the number one factor, named as a priority by 69% of motorists – ahead of service quality, customer service and even cost.

This trust can be built or broken at the moments of greatest stress when customers engage with your workshop. For many customers, that moment is when they are presented with the bill. It's why flexible payment has become an important retention tool: nearly half of drivers (48%) now name the ability to spread the cost of repairs as a priority. Understanding those options can turn a difficult moment into a reason to return.

From 15 July, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products will come under full FCA regulation for the first time. For many providers, like Bumper, the FCA’s expectations mirror the standards they already work to – but regulation now makes them universal. That will strengthen trust in BNPL products themselves – and, by extension, in the dealerships where they are presented.

Under the new regime, BNPL lenders must be FCA-authorised and comply with the Consumer Duty. They will be required to carry out proportionate affordability checks before extending credit, give customers clear upfront information on payment schedules, amounts due and the consequences of missed payments, and offer support to customers in financial difficulty. BNPL customers will also have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service for the first time. It is important to note that these obligations sit with the lender, rather than with the dealership as a retailer.

Regulation gives aftersales the foundation to build trust where it matters most: clarity and fairness at the moment customers pay. The new rules don’t create the expectation of trust, but they raise the legal floor underneath it.

The regulation arrives in a market where the bill conversation can be increasingly challenging. Repair costs are at a five-year high, up 26% since 2021, with the average repair bill rising from £473 to nearly £600. Yet 92% of drivers still consider repairs and servicing essential household expenditure. Every approval conversation now sits inside that tension.

This is why the payment stage has become the biggest trust-builder in the journey. When a customer is weighing up approving work, how the dealership interacts with them – whether the price feels transparent, whether the options feel fair – says more about the business than anything else in the visit. Get it right, and it is the moment loyalty is made.

The cost of getting it wrong is visible in conversion data. In 70% of vehicle health checks where safety-critical ‘red’ work was identified, drivers did not go ahead with all of the urgent recommendations, according to dealership data from our business intelligence arm, AutoBI. Among those who declined urgent work, nearly half cited affordability and a third said the work was simply too expensive – highlighting a confidence gap at the payment stage.

The instinctive response to that gap – discounting – tends to make things worse. As our report notes, frequent discounting can inadvertently erode confidence in the price itself. Regulated, transparently presented payment options offer the opposite: a way to help customers manage the cost of important work without teaching customers to distrust the first quote.

Regulation raises the floor – trust raises the ceiling

When the new rules take effect, the baseline of clarity and fairness rises for everyone. The dealerships that benefit most will be those that treat the payment conversation not as a compliance box but as the trust-building moment it has always been. Trust is not won in the workshop alone. It can be swiftly built or broken at the moment of payment – and from this summer, that moment comes with formal protections behind it.

Why trust at the payment stage drives lifetime workshop loyalty

This summer will see an important shift in how UK motorists experience instalment payments for car repairs, with new ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) regulation.

From 15th July, BNPL agreements come under full FCA regulation, bringing clearer standards to how short-term credit is offered.

While this represents a step-change for many retail BNPL providers, the picture in automotive is quite different – and increasingly positive.

Both industry experience and the FCA’s own analysis underline a crucial truth: BNPL in automotive is fundamentally unlike high-frequency retail BNPL.

Regulation will accelerate, not hinder, its role in making mobility more affordable, predictable and customer-centric.

Consumer bodies, regulators and industry commentators have historically focused on the harms of fast repeat, discretionary retail BNPL.

But the automotive use case has never belonged in that category.

Reflecting Bumper’s consistent advocacy on behalf of the automotive industry, the FCA has recognised automotive BNPL as a positive, pragmatic use case, distinct from high-volume online shopping models.

Automotive customers face unexpected, essential costs – a failed MOT, a timing belt replacement, an urgent brake repair.

Bumper’s latest Automotive Aftersales Report found that 92% of drivers consider repairs and servicing an essential household expenditure.

BNPL here is not a lifestyle enabler; it is a mobility lifeline.

The sector is moving into a regime focused not on restricting access, but on applying proportionate protections under the Consumer Duty.

Why automotive BNPL is positioned to thrive under regulation

From July, customers using automotive BNPL products will be assured the same safeguards as traditional credit borrowers.

These include clear information disclosures, proportionate affordability checks, access to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and enhanced protections for those in difficulty.

Drivers have already shown that they trust instalment options when they are presented clearly and responsibly – it is why BNPL options have become a natural part of approving essential repairs.

Automotive BNPL has already matured on the back of clarity, sensible checks and a focus on essential repairs – qualities that the FCA’s new regime now brings to the surface.

Indeed, motorists have built substantial confidence in automotive BNPL by interacting with providers, like Bumper, which already operate with the same rigour expected of regulated credit, building customer familiarity and trust long before formal BNPL oversight begins.

Within the automotive sector, the way instalment finance is delivered already reflects many of the principles regulators want to see embedded across the wider BNPL market.

This gives automotive BNPL a natural advantage as the rules evolve, for several key reasons:

Automotive BNPL resolves short-term affordability gaps for essential repairs – a very different risk profile to retail BNPL, where discretionary purchasing can accumulate.

Unlike consumer ecommerce journeys, BNPL in automotive is embedded within a professional diagnostic and advisory process.

Customers are not adding a pair of jeans to a basket; they are often agreeing to safety-critical work, typically after receiving a formal quote and workshop assessment.

3. Dealers benefit from transparency and simplicity

For many retail-focused BNPL providers, the distribution chain becomes more complex under regulation.

The automotive industry bucks that trend: dealers’ responsibilities remain light-touch, predictable and supported by their provider.

4. Outcomes-based regulation plays to automotive BNPL’s strengths

The FCA has signalled a shift toward outcomes-based, Consumer Duty-aligned frameworks and away from overly prescriptive rules.

Automotive BNPL already relies on clear communication, proportionate assessments, and a stable low-volume credit environment – making it naturally aligned with this regime.

Regulation invites a new phase of BNPL innovation

Automotive BNPL moves into its next phase stronger than ever.

Far from constraining the sector, FCA regulation recognises and amplifies its strengths: essential spending, predictable risk, transparent journeys and measurable customer outcomes.

For dealers, OEMs and repair networks, the question becomes how they will integrate BNPL to reduce the need for discretionary discounting, and deliver greater workshop utilisation and stronger customer loyalty.

This is the moment BNPL in automotive moves from helpful to indispensable – regulated, trusted and built for the future of mobility.

Jonathan Westwood

Chief Compliance Officer

Why trust at the payment stage drives lifetime workshop loyalty

BNPL regulation in automotive: Essential repairs are being backed by essential protections