Another percent-based set of statistics that tells us nothing.<p>How many Americans were using buy-now pay-later a year ago? 10,000? 50,000? (out of 200 million). A 40% increase in market share from what? A market share of 0.0001%? Did the BNPL amount stay the same, and the market shrink (and what is the market -- on-line purchases or total grocery sales?) And there are 10% more orders, but 19% less revenue. So perhaps fewer people are paying more because of inflation, or more, how can we tell?<p>Perhaps written by Chat-GPT with the proviso that no actual information be provided.
I have my share of problems with big tech, but none of them compare to the rotten garbage that is sectors like payday loans and BNPL. These are industries exclusively set up during rough economic times to prey on the poor.<p>Just think about BNPL for 3 seconds. How do they make money? By selling people shit they can't afford, waiting for them to miss payments, and charging hefty interest and fees – sometimes totaling up to as much as the product itself.<p>You can argue "it is legal" "they signed the contract" "they should have known better” all you like, but just like payday loans it is a social ill that we need to deal with.
Is there some real material different between BNPL and a regular credit line? People often seem up in arms about BNPL, and I'm not clear on what is uniquely insidious about it. Are the rates more predatory than a credit card, for instance?
On the topic of being able to afford food, Pizza Pizza in Canada sent a flyer to my door about "Fixed Rate Pizza."<p>The entire thing is a tongue-in-cheek take on "we won't change the price of our pizza for a year" but they make it sound like a mortgage. You can even go online and get pre-approval for your pizza.[1]<p>To me, this smells of some marketing people thinking they're really really clever. It's fairly well-executed. But just completely tone deaf. Some people are losing their homes. They're trying to feed their children[2]. This is not the time to goof about the absolute fucking dystopic idea of food mortgages.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.pizzapizza.ca/fixed-rate-pizza/" rel="nofollow">https://www.pizzapizza.ca/fixed-rate-pizza/</a><p>[2] My wife volunteers at our kids public school's snack program (Canadian schools generally don't provide lunches). The school has a very wide range of income levels, so you get everything from kids who ignore the snacks (fruit, veggies, sometimes cereal bars), to kids who are sent to school with an empty container to bring food home. Luckily there are some really good social systems in place to try to remove this responsibility from a child, but it's soul crushing to see. This footnote is tangential but I'm having a very raw moment of anger, sadness, and hope.
For some reason the narrative seems to be that BNPL is bad for you, but I would argue they are objectively better than credit cards. Or in the worst case as bad as credit cards. The fees on BNPL tends to be capped in most cases while you could carry cc debt for infinite amount of time at high interest rates with no cap on how much you pay.
If you get offered BNPL with no interest or extra fees, isn't it a no-brainer to take it, even when you could afford to just pay the whole cost up front?
Do we have data on what products are being financed? Online grocery orders can include a variety of things, not all of which we’d conventionally call groceries. It's problematic if BNPL is financing daily meals; another if it's a luxurious dinner or pots and pans.
With the current inflation figures, it might actually be a smart move. If the interest charged on the loan is less than inflation, then it makes sense for the consumer to borrow. The company makes a nominal profit on the loan but a net loss in terms of buying power; similar mistake made by SVB; tomorrow-money is not worth the same as today-money.<p>Since 2008, the Fed has been paying interest on deposits using newly issued currency. That free money will keep entering the economy and cause inflation. The higher they raise the rates, the more free money will enter the economy.
I don't want people borrowing money to buy corn flakes<p>I am willing to pitch in to help<p>that said, why would I not be surprised to find out many of these people have a newer and more expensive phone than me? a nicer car?<p>sorry for the cynicism but I've watched too many people in the drive-up food bank line in $80k pickups...we have a disconnect here