accumulated more than £4 billion in outstanding balances with BNPL companies, averaging £538 for each user. Responding to these findings, not for profit consumer organisation Which? noted that such a large amount of debt attached to these schemes is “very concerning” since its own research has demonstrated that consumers are being “bombarded” with these offers in the UK.
This new form of credit, which offers customers to settle their payments in three monthly or six weekly instalments, are often found at the checkouts of many online shops, including H&M, Asos and JD Sports. The deals became particularly popular amid the pandemic, with 5 million people using the service between the start of COVID and the end of 2020.
Accordingly, Which? called on shopper to be cautious when using BNPL deals, since they could contribute to “an opaque debt bubble”.
