POUND NOTES
BUY NOW, PAY LATER ON THE RISE
MORE than a third (35%) of people are relying on buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes more often now than before the coronavirus pandemic, a survey has found.
And just over half (54%) of 18 to 24-year-olds surveyed said they have used these schemes more frequently since the crisis started.
More than a quarter (27%) of people who have used BNPL schemes in the past 12 months said they did so because they could not afford to make the purchase outright at the time.
One in six (15%) people now use the schemes for all purchases where the option is available, the survey for comparethemarket.com found.
This is up from 4% who said this when a similar survey was carried out at the end of 2019.
BNPL schemes allow people to spread the cost of purchases over a longer period. But more than one in 10 (13%) people in the latest research felt the schemes made them spend more money than they would have done otherwise.
Young people are the demographic most reliant on BNPL schemes. More than half (54%) of those aged 18 to 24 say they have used BNPL more since the pandemic began and nearly a fifth (18%) say they have missed at least one repayment in the last 12 months – which is double (9%) the number of those who had in December.
MONEY TALK
MILLIONS of UK adults don’t feel comfortable talking about money, despite being worried about it.
Shame, upbringing and a fear of burdening others are the reasons why 29 million people don’t open up about money concerns.
A study by the Money and Pensions Service found money is a daily worry for nine million adults.