HM Treasury has made a short amending instrument to tidy the Buy Now, Pay Later perimeter ahead of full regulation in 2026. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities etc.) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025 (SI 2025/1154) comes into force on 3 December 2025 and applies across the UK. The measure implements the government’s June commitment to finalise the treatment of merchants selling in consumers’ homes within the BNPL regime.
The central change is to credit broking. The parent Order made in July 2025 inserted article 36FB into the Regulated Activities Order (RAO) so that broking in relation to regulated deferred payment credit agreements would generally be outside article 36A, except where undertaken by a “domestic premises supplier”. The new Order removes that exception, extending the exemption to in‑home sellers and bringing all broking of these agreements outside article 36A.
In legislative terms, article 36FB(1) is revised by deleting the words that preserved regulation for domestic premises suppliers, paragraphs (2) and (3) are omitted, and a consequential clean‑up removes the unused definition of “customer”. This aligns the RAO with HM Treasury’s June 2025 policy update confirming that domestic premises suppliers would not require credit‑broking authorisation solely to introduce BNPL arrangements.
Knock‑on adjustments are made to the interpretation provisions in the 2025 Order so that “relevant activity” for the temporary permissions framework refers to RAO article 60B activity rather than article 36A or 60B. This reflects the fact that broking of regulated deferred payment credit under article 36A is now carved out by article 36FB, while entering into and administering regulated credit agreements remain within article 60B.
Transition to the new regime is clarified. A new article 6A provides that firms holding a Part 4A permission immediately before the regulatory commencement date (15 July 2026) for RAO article 60B (regulated credit agreements) or article 64 (agreeing to carry on specified activities) will be treated as having permission to carry on the equivalent activity once the amendments take effect. Existing limitations or requirements on those permissions remain, and the FCA retains its powers to vary or cancel.
The Order also tightens drafting within the temporary permissions regime created by the parent instrument. References in article 10(3) and article 11 are corrected to remove now‑redundant mentions of article 36A and to clarify that applications can be treated as covering “either or both” relevant activities, reducing ambiguity for firms entering the regime.
Financial promotions remain unchanged by this amending Order. Unauthorised merchants offering a third‑party lender’s regulated deferred payment credit agreements as a payment method must still have promotions approved by an authorised person under section 21 FSMA, following the 2025 changes to the Financial Promotion Order that removed the article 15 introductions exemption for these products.
Key dates for planning are now fixed. The No. 2 Order takes effect on 3 December 2025. The BNPL regulatory commencement date under the 2025 parent Order remains 15 July 2026, giving the FCA the 12‑month window to consult on and finalise detailed rules and to open registration windows for the Temporary Permissions Regime by direction.
What this means in practice: BNPL lenders should confirm authorisation strategies and assess whether existing article 60B/64 permissions will automatically cover the amended scope at commencement. Merchants-including in‑home sellers-will not require credit‑broking permission simply to introduce customers to BNPL, but must continue to ensure any BNPL promotions are approved by an authorised firm and should prepare for affordability and creditworthiness checks and access to redress mechanisms that accompany the new regime.