As per Australia’s corporate watchdog, one in every five users of buy now, pay later applications, has been missing out on payments and even has to cut back on essentials like meals because of debt incurred using buy now, pay later scheme.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released a report regarding the growing industry on 16 November 2020, according to which, some users were witnessing financial difficulty as 21% of buy now, pay later (BNPL) customers reported they missed a payment in last one year.
The report also informed that some consumers who use the BNPL scheme, are going through economic issues as they are cutting back on essentials like taking meals and even going for loans to make their BNPL payments.
The BNPL transactions have been nearly doubled in a couple of years with 32 million only in last year. In fact, the founders of sector’s biggest player, Afterpay (ASX:APT), have become billionaires in 2020.