What Next TBD: The Trap of Buy Now, Pay Later

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2022

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The option to “buy now and pay later” over installments exploded over the past two years, thanks to people being flush with stimulus cash and shopping online during the pandemic. But is this new, underregulated industry a useful line of credit or another path into debt? Guest: Paulina Cachero, personal finance reporter for Bloomberg. Host: Lizzie O’Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The site, sceneonev.com teaches so much about electric vehicles.
0:07.3	Did you know you can charge an EV at home or thousands of DC fast chargers nationwide,
0:13.1	and the chargers are in places you'd want them to be.
0:15.1	Grocery stores, malls, offices, right along the highway.
0:19.0	Electric vehicles are worth watching.
0:21.1	Head to sceneonev.com to learn more.
0:31.6	In the early days of the pandemic, Bloomberg News reporter Paulina Cacero found herself
0:35.9	scrolling through TikTok.
0:37.5	Yeah, part of it was doom scrolling, but she was also looking for something escapist to
0:42.6	watch.
0:43.6	And it was kind of fun to see all of these things that people were buying online.
0:48.0	Everyone was online shopping.
0:49.6	Guys, after payday is finally here.
0:51.8	So let's recap all of the outfits I've produced for vacation.
0:55.8	Paulina covers personal finance, and she noticed that more and more of that online shopping
1:00.8	was done through apps that let you buy now and pay later from companies like Clarna or
1:06.4	Afterpay.
1:07.4	Afterpay got me Hills Boole, I don't care if it's just $20 Karen.
1:11.4	I said split it up into four equal payments of $5.
1:16.7	Then I started to see some problematic videos of younger borrowers talking about, oh, I
1:25.0	have this massive balance on Afterpay that I can't afford.
1:30.6	Maybe if I just close my account, no one will find me.
	...

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