It’s Friday night. You’re tired after the working week and can’t face the thought of cooking. So, you open your Deliveroo app and quickly place your order.
But when it comes to pay, your funds are low, so you click on the pink Klarna button instead, and opt to spread the cost of your €50 bill for two acai bowls and smoothies over the next six months.
Then your friend gets in touch about tickets for The Weekend at Croke Park next summer. Again you can’t pay for it now but, thanks to “buy now, pay later”, you can still get your tickets, agreeing to repay the cost in three instalments.
Forget about credit card debt and exorbitant money lending, for many buy now, pay later is the tool du jour for buying what you can’t afford today – and putting repayment off to some date into the future.
But, while buy now, pay later may make financial sense when budgeting for larger purchases, such as household appliances or holidays, can it ever really be a good idea to borrow the cost of a takeaway? The Economist recently noted that paying for your lunch in instalments could be seen as “consumerism at its most ludicrous” (although it did also point out the merits of the payment tool).
[ Do you
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.