For some families, it means being able to get kai on the table that week. But it is also not without risks. While the repayments are interest-free, any users who miss an instalment, or are late with a repayment, are charged a fee.<\/p>\n
On the main street in Kaikohe, locals had mixed feelings about the service.<\/p>\n
One woman Checkpoint spoke to described it as a “sucker punch or sucker pull”.<\/p>\n
“It’s like spending your money before you have the money. I think it just suckers people in. They get all these things, and then they can’t pay for it.”<\/p>\n
![\"Afterpay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JQSWCV_Afterpay_2_2_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nOn the main street in Kaikohe, locals had mixed feelings about the service.
\nPhoto: Nick Monro\n<\/p>\n
Another local said he liked Afterpay because it lets him “spread out my tick”. The man said he last used it to pay for birthday presents.<\/p>\n
Alex “Moko” Tango had been dubbed the “Afterpay queen” of Kaikohe, because she used it to pay for nearly everything, including groceries, hair appointments and vet visits.<\/p>\n
The week Checkpoint spoke to her, she had used it buy groceries and household items from The Warehouse. She had also paid for a tank of gas, and taken her two dogs to the vet.<\/p>\n
In Kaikohe, a range of stores let people pay with Afterpay, including the Z petrol station, the chemist, The Warehouse, a mechanic’s garage and a flooring installer and bed shop.<\/p>\n
Tango said without Afterpay, she would not be able to pay for a lot of the things she needs.<\/p>\n
She was not currently working due to health reasons and relied on the supported living payment.<\/p>\n
![\"Afterpay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JQT2EN_Afterpay_1_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nA range of Kaikohe stores let people pay with Afterpay, including the Z petrol station.
\nPhoto: Nick Monro\n<\/p>\n
“It’s the reality of knowing I’d have to save that money over eight weeks,” she said.<\/p>\n
“So even though it’s fortnightly for Afterpay, I know what my weekly budget would be to cover, instead of having to wait eight weeks after the fact to save in my budget to pay [for things].”<\/p>\n
That week, the vet bill for Tango’s two dogs came in at just under $300 and her petrol cost $148. The Warehouse grocery shop came to about $170, which Tango says should last for two weeks.<\/p>\n
Tango also stressed Afterpay only works for those who are diligent budgeters, which she had learnt to do as someone who lives on a benefit.<\/p>\n
“I can honestly say as a beneficiary, it has conditioned me to be able to live in this type of budget-threshold.”<\/p>\n
![\"Afterpay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JR88A3_Alex_Tango_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nTango said without Afterpay, she would not be able to pay for a lot of the things she needs.
\nPhoto: Nick Monro\n<\/p>\n
And while Tango had never been penalised for missed or late repayments as an Afterpay user, the Salvation Army warned not everyone finds the buy-now-pay-later service easy to manage.<\/p>\n
Senior policy analyst Ana Ika said it was easy for people to rack up debt without realising it.<\/p>\n
“Last week, I looked over a of our client’s case notes and they were spending over someone’s case and they spending over $367 a week in payment back buy-no-pay-later. The majority of that is paid out of their benefit so it creates a lot of financial hardship for that individual and their family.”<\/p>\n
Nationally, more than 500,000 people in New Zealand have used Afterpay in the past nine years, according to the company.<\/p>\n
The popularity of services like Afterpay among people Salvation Army works with showed current benefit and income levels simply were not enough, Ika said.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, income and benefit levels should be adequate so people could afford essentials like petrol and groceries, and not turn to buy-now-pay-later service like Afterpay, she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Afterpay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JQSWDJ_Afterpay_3_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nIn the small, predominantly M\u0101ori town of Kaikohe, residents struggling with high living costs are using Afterpay to buy things like gas.
\nPhoto: Nick Monro\n<\/p>\n