“Pay in four installments over the next six weeks,” says a buy now, pay later advertisement on the tube.
At the bottom there is the small print: something something about “unregulated credit”.
Nevertheless, the consumer shrugs, buys, and borrows from their next paycheck.
I get frustrated with euphemisms like “unregulated credit”.
I wish the risks of these products were more clearly stated.
Such as, the Financial Conduct Authority does not keep tabs on this business, they’ll likely charge you higher interest rates, their terms may be vague and hard to understand, they may not adhere to responsible lending practises or have a complaints process, you may wind up in a debt trap, suffer anxiety from aggressive collection practises, and your credit score could suffer.
Maybe we’d think differently about buy now, pay later if the ads were a little more honest.