'Buy now, pay later' goes from niche to normal as young people use it for daily essentials including groceries

return2ozma@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 400 points –
'Buy now, pay later' goes from niche to normal as young people use it for daily essentials
nbcnews.com
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I don't know the difference between this and using a credit card? You can extend payment using a CC, are the interest rates that much lower?

BNPL generally has a fixed payment schedule, while CC does not. It's entirely feasible to use a CC and never pay interest by paying debts immediately (because you have cash liquidity). At that point, a CC becomes more of a low-friction "accounts payable" system for consumers than a financing scheme.

BNPL's primary value is in making large purchases because of low cash liquidity. When consumers don't have enough cash liquidity for FOOD, that's a sign of bad times.

Or it means people are leveraging low interest loans to gamble their lunch money. Still not a good look.

Not much difference, but it’s usually fairly predatory.

It’s not that it’s a fairly new thing- it’s that people are having to do it for necessities. Which just makes everything more expensive as your (probably) now on a credit treadmill.