Warning over Love Island stars pushing credit line
Fans are lured into debt, says charity
LOVE Island stars are promoting a buy now, pay later firm that has been accused of luring young people into dangerous debt.
Maura Higgins, who made last year’s final, and 2018 contestant Eyal Booker have both used Instagram to plug Klarna.
The credit site offers short-term finance to spend at outlets such as
Asos, Boohoo, Missguided and Topshop. Maura has promoted Boohoo and Eyal has advertised clothes from Hollister. Both suggest it’s possible to “buy now, pay later” with Klarna.
The Boohoo website
features plugs for
Love Island, with collections from former contestants. Meanwhile other Islanders – Ellie Brown, Laura Anderson, Rosie Williams, Hayley Hughes, Charlie Frederick and Kieran Nicholls – have attended events run by Klarna.
The promotions emerged ahead of Love Island’s return to ITV2 tonight.
Debt charity StepChange claims Klarna encourages shoppers to spend what they can’t afford – and says Islanders and shopping sites should be upfront about the penalties for missing payments, which can lead to bad credit scores and threats from debt collectors.
Spokeswoman Sue Anderson said: “Those promoting buy now, pay later services need to encourage people to make a properly informed choice, rather than simply seducing them by the promise of convenience.”
Klarna said collectors are only used if a debt is not paid for “several months” and credit scores are affected if “the debt remains unpaid beyond this point”.
Representatives for Maura and Eyal did not respond.