West Ham United announces Klarna BNPL online tie up
Premier League football club West Ham United has launched an online shop now, pay later facility in partnership with Klarna.
Supporters will be able to use Klarna on all orders from the UK and pay for purchases up to 30 days later, or split them into three instalments.
“Your first instalment will be collected when your order is confirmed and instalments two and three are scheduled 30 and 60 days later, respectively. There’s no interest or fees and no impact to your credit score,” West Ham United says in a press release.
Barclays on the attack
Unregulated buy now pay later (BNPL) products can carry unintended consequences that consumers are often unaware of, according to research from Barclays.
2,000 Brits, who have previously used BNPL services, were surveyed for this.
39% admited they lack a full understanding of how the products work.
And with 35% stating they’re more likely to use BNPL as the cost of everyday living increases, a growing indebtedness bubble could be on the horizon unless steps are taken to fully regulate lending at the Point of Sale, Barclays warns.
36% admitted to using BNPL to buy more than they are able to afford and 25% reported struggling to keep track of their spending having taken out loans with several providers. One in four say this has caused them to miss a repayment.
According to Barclays, one of the pitfalls of unregulated products is that thorough checks on a customer’s personal financial circumstances are not always carried out, and as a result, customers may be more likely to have insufficient funds available to pay back borrowing on time.
The research shows that the consequences of defaulting on a loan instalment are not fully understood by many BNPL shoppers (36 per cent).
One in five don’t know that some BNPL providers charge late fees for missed payments, or that this can negatively impact their credit score (20%).
58%, meanwhile, are unaware that when they take out unregulated loans, they are typically not as well protected as those made using regulated payment methods.
Similarly, if customers have cause to complain about a regulated payment method and are unhappy with the decision made by their financial provider, they are able to escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). However, with an unregulated product, this option is unavailable.
