[kweingar]

I keep hearing people express dismay that people are financing their lunch, sneakers, or concert tickets.

But this has been the norm for a while, no? I can't remember the last time I didn't utilize credit at a restaurant or retail store. If you use credit cards, it doesn't make sense to reflexively admonish people for using BNPL for everyday purchases.

To be sure, BNPL is in many ways a predatory innovation. But it isn't totally novel. It seems like a natural consequence of what came before.

[recursive]

A lot of people use a credit card like a debit card with fraud protection. You can pay off the balance every month and still get a benefit. The UX of paying is so smooth. Maybe that's possible with BNPL too (learned a new acronym today) but I haven't heard of it.

If there was a thing that worked like a credit card, but without the credit part, I'd probably be using that instead.

[twoodfin]

What you’re looking for exists: It’s called American Express.

American Express has since expanded its brand into credit cards, but the original lineup has been charge cards which work as you describe for almost 70 years.

[preciousoo]

From what I've heard in passing, debit cards used to, but then some law made it regulatory or financially (again I've only heard in passing) hard for companies to keep offering that

[wat10000]

A lot of people are very skeptical of credit cards, and it’s pretty common to see people recommending against them or outright calling them evil with pretty much the same arguments you see here.

Among those who like credit cards (of which I am one), the “credit” part is basically irrelevant. Paying for my stuff a few weeks later is nice, but it’s not why I use credit cards. If there was a card that offered an extra 0.5% cash back but purchases had to be paid immediately, I’d jump on it.

[poincaredisk]

It's clear that this extra 0.5% is there, because the company hopes to make it up on late payment fees extracted from less financial savvy people, or the high fees.

[claytonjy]

That’s one of the arguments in the substack post. BNPL is like credit cards, but more specific, and that specificity allows for more accurate pricing of the loan risk.

[DonsDiscountGas]

Most people pay off a credit card in full every month so it's really just about the convenience. BNPL is similar in fact, most purchases are paid off in installments over 30 days with no interest or late fees charged. As the article covers the merchant pays a slightly higher fee in exchange for slightly better terms than a CC, and customers buy slightly more then they would have otherwise.

[bluedino]

> Most people pay off a credit card in full every month

According to Google it's about half.

[AStonesThrow]

A couple of years ago, I signed up for a secured credit card. It included cashback rewards and the barrier to entry was low, so why not?

(It turns out that I have no need for credit or a credit score/rating in my situation. I may have been better off with none at all. Anyway...)

After about six months in good standing, the bank refunded my security deposit and I had an unsecured credit card.

The cashback rewards are specifically for use at restaurants and gas stations. So it's quite tempting to simply use this card to run up bills whenever I dine out (or order delivery), because then there is a steady and significant stream of cashback rewards on it.

Otherwise, I'm a bit horrified that anyone would BNPL for food, especially prepared food. If your cash flow is such that you can't afford to purchase a meal, or shop for groceries, that's a bit dire. I would be looking at charities and gov't programs and any other way to subsidize food, other than buying on credit. You definitely don't want to dig a hole like this between paydays.

[poincaredisk]

>But this has been the norm for a while, no? I can't remember the last time I didn't utilize credit at a restaurant or retail store.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I want to highlight that this is US specific. I'm in Europe, in my 30s and I never owned a credit card. The same goes for all my friends. Even ones who had to get a credit card for a trip to US, or got one from their bank without asking, don't use them.