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Brittany needs a couch. Should she buy now, pay later?

Brittany needs a couch. Should she buy now, pay later?

It's Been a Minute vor 1 Jahr

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19:31

Brittany keeps looking at a new couch online, and every time she
goes to buy it she sees an option to "Buy Now, Pay Later," which
made her wonder...should she? Here's what she found:

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loans have become one of the go-to ways
to get access to credit fast. Companies like Klarna, Affirm, and
Afterpay make buying big purchases relatively easy by allowing
people to pay in installments over time. But some Americans have
taken to using this method for everyday items like groceries, and
when BNPL service providers like Klarna partners with DoorDash so
customers can "eat now, pay later"... it feels like a debt trap
waiting to happen. And that's just scratching the surface.

This... is Money Troubles.

And for the past few weeks we've been looking into the ways
everyday people are trying to make ends meet... and what it says
about how our culture views labor, basic needs, or even our
favorite pastimes.

In this final episode, NPR Life Kit's Andee Tagle and author
Malcolm Harris join Brittany to get into why Buy Now, Pay Later has
become so popular and how 'cheap credit' may be another lifestyle
subsidy for a new generation.

You can hear more of Andee's and Life Kit's reporting on Buy Now,
Pay Later here.

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