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Summary

Gen Z is increasingly relying on “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) services for holiday shopping, with spending projected to rise 11.4% this year, totaling $18.5 billion.

These services appeal to younger consumers with limited credit histories but can lead to overextension, as they lack centralized reporting and encourage overspending.

Experts warn of accumulating fees, particularly when BNPL plans are tied to credit cards.

With inflation and rising credit card debt already burdening Gen Z, consumer advocates caution that these services may worsen financial instability despite their convenience.

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[-] RedC@sh.itjust.works 53 points 23 hours ago

I swear on everything that I've read this article word for word years ago but replace gen z with millenials

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 10 points 21 hours ago

We didn't have this new term buy now pay later to the same extent, the millenials version just called credit cards credit cards.

[-] teft@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

You don’t have an Aaron’s or Rent-a-center in your town? I’m a millennial and half my formative years were spent on a rent-a-center couch and bed. Half my belongings in my first house were rent to own, now that i think of it. I spent a lot more because of interest and scams but i had zero financial literacy then and i needed furniture. Without a credit card your options were/are limited.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 1 points 14 hours ago

I remember payday lending being a thing, rent to own on furniture rings a bell too, but I remember most of the focus being on credit cards and bank fees

[-] socsa@piefed.social 1 points 15 hours ago

PayPal had zero interest payment plans as far back as like 2010. I'm actually a bit surprised it didn't take off sooner.

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[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 147 points 1 day ago

When you think there's no future, there's no need to plan for one.

Gen Z knows that they're gonna have bigger problems than debt.

[-] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 13 points 19 hours ago

In other news, the interest rate on unsecured pseudo-credit services is very high.

Now over to Dave with the weather.

[-] lychee 56 points 1 day ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

In this age where you can quickly spend thousands online (or even in person) without having to actually watch any of it disappear, and corporations are hiring psychologists to make their services and platforms as addicting as possible, you're gonna get a lot of this

I see everyone in the comments saying that Gen Z have checked out and are waiting for the end but I really don't think so.

I think it's never been easier to manipulate a person to separate them from their money and things are deliberately designed that way. Big shiny upgrade now buttons, services forcing you onto 7 day free trials for premium plans upon signing up, expensive yearly subscriptions for products that ten years ago would have been unthinkable as anything other than one time purchases, you name it. Capitalists have used the internet to minmax their penny pinching.

[-] jake_jake_jake_@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago

to take this a step further, imagine someone who has been exposed to these services designed to be addictive their entire (digital) life, as well as being pushed further into these services by their peers who are equally addicted and the "influencers" they look up to that are paid by these services.

[-] lychee 9 points 20 hours ago

Yep. It's seriously remarkable how deeply these fuckers have sunk their claws into our social fabric. Literally every possible tactic they can employ to suck as much money from as many people as possible, have been employed, consequences be damned no matter how severe. This cannot be allowed to continue

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 1 points 21 hours ago

People do tend to learn defenses against the environment in, so Im surprised.

[-] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 72 points 1 day ago

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

[-] jrs100000@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago

If were going to slip into a period of hyperinflation then taking on tons of consumer debt is just good financial planning.

[-] taiyang@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

This is correct, although usually you'd want to go into debt on something like housing but let's be honest, that's not possible. Why not pay an 80 dollar door dash across four payments?

[-] Tkpro@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago

Isn't that only if wages increase alongside inflation

[-] jrs100000@lemmy.world 8 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Oh no. If a fistfull of trillion dollar bills will buy you a shot glass of rice that maxed out credit card from the before time is pointless either way.

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[-] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 54 points 1 day ago

Does it matter. It seems that a lot of them have checked out already as they see the world burning around them.

[-] whithom@discuss.online 30 points 1 day ago

Hard to blame them.

[-] venusaur@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago

They’re just waiting for the trickle down

[-] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 day ago

Is this actually worse than the five figure credit limits gen x had extended to them? Boomers had store layaway, which really seems ideal for holiday shopping, but there's no money to be made with it so of course it's fallen out of style.

[-] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago

five figure credit limits gen x had extended to them

chase gave me a $17K limit before i was even 20 in the 90s. i know more than a few people who would have had that maxed out the next day

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 1 points 14 hours ago
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[-] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 7 points 22 hours ago

The absolute irony of the paywall

Never pay them anything back!

[-] hahattpro@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago

BNPL is a credit card but in app.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 2 points 21 hours ago

Nah more credit check hits

[-] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

Yo dawg I heard you like installments:

Recently I noticed my credit card lets me move transactions into installments. So, you can put an installment into installments now. When you go bankrupt you can pay off your debt in installments too.

[-] yournamehere@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

genZ is the least empathic gen i have seen yet. gives me hope future generations can learn from that.ql

[-] seaQueue@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

I mean, you get out what you put in. Is it a surprise that a generation that's growing up in a predatory world without empathy lacks empathy?

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 3 points 21 hours ago

You've described all of human history

[-] seaQueue@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago
[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 3 points 14 hours ago

I was more thinking of the uncaring universe than blaming our species.

[-] yournamehere@lemm.ee 1 points 19 hours ago

you think previous times were LESS predatory? like when? back then rape was legal, war was just over, alcoholism ....dude, how is it worse?

no. it is always the people themselves. maybe plastic retarded them? i mean swifties dont even allow a discussion on taylors remarks with kanye west. an entire fan generation ignores that she is the culprit.

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this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2024
359 points (100.0% liked)

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