Buy now, pay later done right, isn’t wrong. It’s fine for those who understand what they’re doing and make an active, one-off decision to use it to spread the cost over a few months interest-free.
Yet too many don’t do that. They fall for BNPL’s ubiquity, use it constantly and build up a bank of unaffordable debt. Worse, not everyone knows it’s a debt. That is why it has been unsafe for some, and why I was one of those who campaigned strongly for the government to bring in this regulation, and why I’m delighted to see it happening now.
Most people won’t notice any difference. These changes are primarily to ensure BNPL is sold responsibly and that there are protections for when things go wrong, which can be hugely damaging. These protections importantly include being able to appeal to the independent, free Financial Ombudsman Service over problems such as if your credit file is wrongly marked, or if BNPL has been mis-sold rather than properly explained as a debt.