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#buynowpaylater

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Bytes Europe

UK BNPL Volumes Jump Nearly 20% Amid Increased Scrutiny byteseu.com/658058/ #Affirm #BNPL #BuyNowPayLater #FCA #FinancialConductAuthority #GreatBritain #InstallmentPayments #Klarna #News #paypal #PYMNTSNews #regulations #retail #UK #UnitedKingdom #What'sHot

Bytes Europe · UK BNPL Volumes Jump Nearly 20% Amid Increased ScrutinyBritish consumers are increasingly embracing buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans amid increasing government scrutiny. Activity in the sector climbed to around $27 billion in 2024 last year, an almost 20% increase, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (Jan. 16), citing figures from GlobalData. It’s a boom being driven by companies such as PayPal and Klarna, plus newcomers to the U.K. like Affirm. “Affirm is stepping into a competitive landscape,” Sameer Pethe, a partner at consultant Kearney, told Bloomberg. “Merchants who haven’t plugged in a point-of-sale solution aren’t many.” The report also notes that some retailers — such as eCommerce marketplace Very and Sports Direct — have
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

We should be worried about the ever expanding use of services...

A new FCA report notes that those with the 'characteristics of vulnerability' are most likely to use BNPL & will often already have other high-interest loans in play, or be behind & missing regular bill payments.

BNPL is fine if you keep to the payment schedule, but the problem is its a hook into a rapacious & high-cost debt recovery system if you don't.

A decade ago a colleague wrote a great book on this...

Book cover: Debtfare States & the Poverty Industry: Money, Discipline & the Surplus Population. By Susanne Soederberg
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Another metric of & the :

nearly 2m people in Britain are regularly using to fund the purchase of essentials... however necessary this is for them in the short-term, its just building up problems of for them down the line.

So, then its no surprise to find that over half of these users had at least one outstanding payment (overdue).

The poor are falling into a debt trap... this all feels very Victorian!

data Money & Pensions Service/Which

Public *
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Around 17% of the UK's population have used deferred and/or facilities in the last 12 months.

We know that firms are targeting the vulnerable (including those on waiting lists), and there is a growing issue of the penalty payments & aggressive recovery strategies used by providers.

But having committed to 'act swiftly' in Feb 2021, & the still have yet to propose any regulatory action(s) or try to get them into law.

Why might that be?

Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Its hardly surprising that the has led to the targeting of those on waiting lists by firms aiming to 'help' them get private ;

this made crisis is enriching & other Tory chums, while degrading our & .

The strategic defunding of the is intended to expand the market for private healthcare... who have been preparing by expanding capacity & poaching NHS staff.

theguardian.com/society/2023/a

The GuardianBuy now, pay later medical loans on rise as desperate patients go private amid NHS backlogsBy Shanti Das
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

It will be no surprise to anyone that despite the reassurances, the actuality of , is that around 10% of its clients/users end up in one form of problem or another.... once again the parasitic sector has another ago at exploring the vulnerable....

Rentier has many darks sides (perhaps is all dark sides) & this is one more of them

theguardian.com/business/2023/

The GuardianBuy now, pay later firms stay unregulated – and Britons are racking up debtBy Heather Stewart
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Finally the Govt. is drafting for the sector... its been a long time coming & is urgently needed, not least because as Theodora Hadjimichael, from Responsible Finance, observes:

'Buy now, pay later is the wild west of credit with many people racking up commitments they can’t meet [and with ] low awareness of the consequences of missed payments. Regulation is long overdue'. (FT)

Its a quiet but growing scandal in & needs better regulation

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