PayLater as a Digital Consumer Credit Instrument: An Analysis Based on the Principles of Maqashid Sharia and Muslim Consumer Protection in Indonesia

Abstract

Buy Now Pay Later (PayLater) services are rapidly growing as a FinTech innovation in Indonesia's e-commerce ecosystem, with the number of financing contracts soaring from 4.63 million in 2019 to 79.92 million in 2023. However, they also trigger consumer behavior and the risk of debt traps, especially among the younger generation. Previous research tends to examine halal-haram aspects, contract structures, and financial literacy separately without comprehensively integrating Muslim consumer protection and the principles of maqashid sharia. This study uses a qualitative method with a juridical-normative approach based on literature studies, analyzing secondary data from OJK documents, DSN-MUI Fatwas, and literature on muamalah fiqh and maqashid sharia through descriptive content analysis techniques. The research findings show that PayLater's structural design, which includes instant approval and the transfer of the ability to pay evaluation to post-transaction, creates inconsistencies with the pillars of the qardh contract (riba and gharar elements) and threatens the five aspects of the maqashid sharia (hifz al-din, al-nafs, al-'aql, al-nasl, and al-mal). This research concludes that the reconstruction of Sharia PayLater requires comprehensive changes to the contract basis, the design of the approval process, and the regulatory oversight framework, not just the partial elimination of the interest component.