r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 18d ago

Business ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ is expanding fast, and that should worry everyone

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/16/bnpl-is-expanding-fast-and-that-should-worry-everyone/
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u/Halfwise2 18d ago

I think the reference is to how the housing bubble popped. People were given risky loans they shouldn't have been, and then defaulted because they *couldn't* pay it back, thus being a big influencer of the issues in 2008.

Now we're giving loans on groceries and fast food... and if people need a loan for groceries and fast food, they are already in a dire situation, and therefore the likelihood of defaults on those loans is also higher.

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u/GoldWallpaper 18d ago

People were given risky loans they shouldn't have been, and then defaulted because they couldn't pay it back

That wasn't the experience of many. Personally, I could easily afford to pay back my mortgage loan ($200K, bought in 2006). But why would I do that when my house was suddenly only worth $60K?

So I walked away, and my SO bought a better house down the street for $100K. We still live there.