KingU.S. consumers are so fucked up, that they put more than $1 billion on buy-now, pay later services during Cyber Monday
Dr. WeskerMan, say what you will about credit cards, but at the very least with many of those you get rewards of some sort. BNPL is just the consumer version of the payday loan; you get nothing but the scam.
ExulionIdk, I do them when there is no interest involved. Like my credit card I only do it when I have the money though.
skankhunt42For what reason? Am I missing out on something?
Seems like it’s better to just pay now if you have the cash.
PlatypusAssuming you need to buy the product, taking on zero interest debt gives you greater liquidity that you can theoretically activate elsewhere to improve your cash flow. For the amounts and time scales of BNPL, though, I don’t entirely see the point.
For the amounts and time scales **hard inquiries of BNPL, though, I don’t entirely see the point.
FTFY
Most BNPL services don’t make classically hard inquiries, though - as I understand it that’s actually a big part of the problem, because they are able to skirt a great deal of the credit regulations put in place to prevent predatory lending (yeah those exist - fucking terrifying, isn’t it?) by not engaging directly with the credit agencies, instead relying on 3rd party consumer information data brokers of dubious reliability.
I don’t do this for many things but i do use it sometimes
I’ve used care credit because a single emergency vet bill can be pricey and while I could empty my savings that’s not the best idea. So I just pay it off within the promotional period. Worse case scenario I am in a position to secure a traditional personal loan to completely pay off that balance at a more favorable interest rate.
I used a 0% intro rate for a European vacation once and it was great paying that off over a year.
That being said I wouldn’t finance groceries or Christmas shopping. That’s going a bit far