Plans to protect millions of shoppers who use buy now, pay later put forward by the Government

MSE_Molly_G

New rules to protect the millions of shoppers who use buy now, pay later (BNPL) services have been put forward by the Government today (Thursday 17 October). However, MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) and its founder Martin Lewis, who have long-campaigned for BNPL regulation, have cautioned users to "be very wary" until the the rules take force in 2026.

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Plans to protect millions of shoppers who use buy now, pay later put forward by the Government – though rules won't come in until 2026

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marcia_

 It's so easy to be confused by BNPL.
My relative buys everything large on bnpl on a catalogue. With a few things on credit. They only pay what the catalogue requests on the credit items and fails to pay an additional amount to bnpl. This is meaning they end up pay interest after the year .
i feel that the companies fail to explain bnpl in clear language to customers. 

 Also separately bnpl isn't covered by s75 when I feel it should be. 

TheSpectator

marcia_ said:

 It's so easy to be confused by BNPL.
My relative buys everything large on bnpl on a catalogue. With a few things on credit. They only pay what the catalogue requests on the credit items and fails to pay an additional amount to bnpl. This is meaning they end up pay interest after the year .
i feel that the companies fail to explain bnpl in clear language to customers. 

 Also separately bnpl isn't covered by s75 when I feel it should be. 

Is it though? An example from very. Seems very clear to me.

PixelPound

It's more to ensure proper credit affordability checks are done. The regulator upholds a lot of complaints for irresponsible lending where people have had credit limit increases they've then used up but struggle to pay back, or get given new lines of credit when it's clear that it's being used to pay existing liabilities.

Whilst the BNPL of Very, above, is clear when interest will be payable, what checks on how much they can have on BNPL. If someone keeps ordering new stuff that's added to their statements but making low payments - it could be the person is utilising the interest free period and does pay, but it also could be they cannot afford to pay it all back before the interest kicks in and with a string of orders added to the BNPL, end up not being able to afford to pay enough to cover the interest alone, or just barely and end up in persistent debt.