You may have paid off your car via instalments, but what about your Friday night takeaway? Ellie Muir found herself hooked on using ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ services and in a cycle of payment deadlines she couldn’t afford Photo: Getty You will have seen its baby pink logo, placed seductively at the bottom of the checkout window. Today it’s ubiquitous, lurking on practically every online shop, from Amazon and Asos to Deliveroo and John Lewis. I avoided clicking it for a while, then eventually gave in: this is Klarna, one of the many buy now, pay later (BNPL) services that allow you to split payments for everyday items into three, zero-interest instalments, or pay within 30 days.
Sounds like a perfect way to create some financial flexibility, right? That’s until you get completely hooked. It began when I needed a dress for a special occasion, but couldn’t afford one until payday. So I opted to actually pay for it 30 days after purchase.
I was amazed by how easy it was. I didn’t have to jump through any major hoops to obtain the credit from Klarna, or fill out any lengthy forms. But then I got trigger-happy.
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