#regulateBuyNowPayLater
THE
STORIES
BUY NOW PAY LATER IS THE NEW NORMAL
23% of 18 to 24-year-olds have turned to buy now, pay later services to fund their spending since the start of lockdown*
BUT MANIPULATIVE ADVERTISING PRACTICES AND A LACK OF INFORMATION IS
INCREASING THE RISK THAT YOUNG PEOPLE WILL GET INTO PROBLEM DEBT
45% of young people who have used a buy now, pay later scheme in the last year say they have missed at least one payment*
*Compare the Market
what is buy now pay later?
Buy now pay later (BNPL) is the name for a kind of credit payment (that’s debt to you and me…) that allows you to purchase goods, but pay for them either later or by instalments. In recent years, new digital payment providers have emerged, pitched at online shoppers who “wanna cop some new gear but can’t wait until payday”, as JD Sports puts it. They include Clearpay, Klarna, Laybuy and Afterpay.
The UK's most popular digital BNPL service is Klarna, accessible via thousands of online and high street shops from ASOS to SpaceNK to BooHoo. You can ‘pay later’ in just one click on pretty much anything, from a £4 scrunchie to some new sneakers. Whilst the value of these items might be small, the consequences of using these products incorrectly, are not. Of the issues we have identified we believe Klarna to be the most egregious.
How does it work?
The new online providers let their customers ‘spread the cost’ of shopping online.
Klarna has three products:
so what's the issue?
Klarna is a product designed to eliminate the 'pain of paying' and with young people in mind. Take a look at this screengrab from a recent campaign featuring their investor, Snoop Dog.
Klarna knows that BNPL gets people to overspend. On their website, they tell their retailers:
A customer's order value increases by 55% when
shopping with instalments
BNPL can be useful for consumers and used well, however, there is a risk that without better protection we'll see young people who already face the reality of a debt crisis and recession, under unmanageable financial pressure
THE PROBLEM
We have identified two areas of concern which need addressing in order to mitigate thESE riskS:
1. MISLEADING ADS
-
BNPL ads do not contain appropriate risk wording, if any. Retailers, who are not regulated are also advertising BNPL products and with no risk wording.
-
BNPL providers use influencer marketing. Influencers are not required to include any risk wording on posts. Some fail to disclose #ads.
-
BNPL providers use emotionally manipulative advertising which implies that BNPL can afford you a certain lifestyle. See this Killing Eve ad and these Clearpay IG posts from Bare Minerals.
-
BNPL ads often confuse customers and take advantage of a lack of financial literacy. For example:
-
Klarna has three similarly named products. Two require a soft credit check which cannot impact your score upon application and another which requires a hard credit check which can impact your score on application. 77% of consumers do not understand the difference between soft and hard credit checks*. Klarna has previously stated on ads ‘no impact on your credit score’. This is confusing for consumers and also fails to acknowledge that ALL of their BNPL products can lead to your score being harmed when you fail to pay and that your debt will be sold to a collection agency.
-
Klarna ads have also stated ‘no interest, no fees, never’. This does not apply to all products and is also confusing for consumers.
-
*TSB - Research conducted by OnePoll: 2,000 respondents.
2. LACK OF consumer protection
-
On several sites, BNPL is the default payment option. We've had reports from some consumers who've accidentally used BNPL
-
The FCA does not provide explicit guidance as to how the risks of BNPL products should be articulated fully, specifically damage to credit score or selling of debt to a collection agency.
-
Klarna is dishonest about the possible consequences of not making a payment
-
On the Klarna website : 'Your credit score will not be impacted by using Klarna’s ‘Pay later’ products even if you have failed to pay on time.'
-
This is NOT true. According to their terms and conditions:
-
“If we are unable to take the outstanding amount on the third instalment we may invoice you the remaining amount for immediate payment or follow our debt collection procedures where you will have to pay all reasonable costs incurred by Klarna and/or the debt collection agency.”
-
Being referred to a debt collection agency will impact your credit score but Klarna makes it very difficult to find this information. Combined with misleading ads, this heightens the risk of consumers underestimating the importance of using these products wisely.
-
Unless customers read the terms and conditions, there is no information about the consequences of non-payment at checkout. In fact, customers are given a false sense of security....
WHAT THE REGULATOR SAYS:
“We agree that information needs to be clear and comprehensible, although we do not consider it needs to be in a prescribed format or include worked examples. It is more important that firms have the flexibility to be able to tailor their communications for their customers, bearing in mind their knowledge of how their customers react to different forms of disclosure.”
THIS IS NOT ENOUGH
proposed solutions
improve advertising standards
protect consumers
wANT TO SAY NA to BAD PRACTICE AND HELP PROTECT VULNERABLE CONSUMERS ?
PLEASE support the campaign
Share this @go_fund_yourself_ post on Instagram
.png)
Tweet in suppport and
@ your MP
Tap this button
Share the campaign on
further resources
Debt charity, StepChange has contributed to multiple reports on the risks of BNPL
Clare has been vocal about the risks of BNPL, sharing examples of malpractice on Twitter
MAS has some useful advice on in-store credit and BNPL
Who is behind this campaign?
Alice Tapper is the author and founder of Go Fund Yourself. You can learn more here.
Email: (not.com)
Sign up to the mailing list for updates 👇