New research slams quick and easy buy now pay later services

Buy now, pay later schemes are tempting shoppers into taking on unsustainable debt, according to research by Money.co.uk.

2,016 Brits aged 18-55 were surveyed for this. A fifth admitted to spending more than they could afford.

20% said buy now, pay later was a way to buy now and worry about it later. And the average debt to BNPL platforms was £176.05, taking eight months to pay off.

Taking a list of the UK’s most popular retail brands from YouGov, Money.co.uk scored each website on the number of BNPL mentions on product pages, checkout pages, and on the website homepage to reveal which ones were pushing Klarna, Clearpay and Laybuy the most.

In the fashion space, Nasty Gal came top, followed by boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, Next and Nike.

M&S topped the homeware sector. Whilst Samsung lead the way in the technology field, followed by Curry’s, Apple, Canon and TomTom.

Salman Haqqi, a personal finance expert at money.co.uk, says: “While Buy Now Pay Later schemes, like Zilch, Klarna and Clearpay, are quick and easy to join and seemingly harmless, they are in fact an entry point to debt for many.”

“Their quick and easy sign-up process, minimal credit check, and youthful marketing appeal could be causing shoppers to sign up and spend more than they can afford without understanding the full risk.”

Customers should note all of the terms and conditions and understand completely what they are signing up for to ensure that they are using the service correctly, he adds.

“For shoppers who are confident they can handle the repayments then it might not be a problem, but this is not always the case and there will be those who may not be able to pay off what they spend, and this puts them at risk,” Haqqi concludes.