“As prices rise, Americans are increasingly finding new ways to make ends meet. But with some necessary purchases, such as groceries, there are fewer options that don’t involve taking on debt.   That makes the option to pay later — through companies such as Klarna, Zip, Zilch, Affirm and Afterpay — look increasingly attractive. About two-thirds of consumers have worried in the past month about affording groceries due to the rise of inflation, a recent LendingTree survey found. At the same time, Zip said it notched 95% growth in U.S. grocery purchases, according to The New York Times. Klarna reported that more than half of the top 100 items its app users are now buying are grocery or household items.”

“With grocery and food costs at historic highs, more consumers are turning to buy, now, pay later (BNPL) options to pay for their weekly food bill, reports the New York Times. They’re even using these options for smaller purchases such as a coffee or sandwich. One BNPL user told the Times she doesn’t hesitate to use the service for her everyday food purchases. “If I wanted to pick up a coffee on the way home from somewhere and I didn’t have any money in my coffee or eat-out budget, I would push it to next month’s budget,” she said. Philip Belamant, the founder of Zilch, a BNPL company, told the Times that consumers don’t balk at swiping a credit card to buy lunch or coffee. So why shouldn’t they use a pay-later plan, with no interest, for those purchases?”

“The city watchdog has informed buy now, pay later firms such as Klarna and Clearpay that it has seen online ads and posts by social media influencers that break rules by not warning of risks such as taking on unaffordable debt. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has written to companies in the multibillion-pound buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector promising to take action over unfair and misleading promotions, with more consumers looking into using such services as the cost of living soars.”

“Cash, credit card, check. A lot of folks are replacing these with a third-party apps like Venmo, Pay Pal, Cash App, Zelle, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. If you have a side business, it’s an instant way to get paid cash. Now, the IRS  wants to know who is giving you how much, and why. “Those apps are going to be required to report anything over $600 to the IRS and you will get a 1099-K form and you’ll have to report it on your taxes and pay taxes on your income,” said JW DeGance, Jackson Hewitt.”

“Buy now, pay later is often touted as a cheaper alternative to credit cards, but new research shows these platforms can actually end up costing more. BNPL platforms such as Afterpay, Humm and Zip Pay have quickly become a mainstream product in recent years, helping Australians pay for everything from groceries to child care. With the rising cost of living, these services may be more tempting than ever. But they don’t provide money for free.   Curtin University research commissioned by Financial Counselling Australia and released on Thursday shows BNPL fees are effectively a “quasi-interest rate that can be more costly than credit card interest rates”.”

“Forage, a payments processor that makes it easier for grocers to accept SNAP EBT (food stamps) payments online, announced today that the Forage app is now available to all Shopify customers as a means to accept SNAP EBT online. Forage is Shopify’s first payments gateway for SNAP EBT online.”

“Buy-now-pay-later companies have had a rollercoaster ride since they rose to power during the early days of the pandemic. After quickly garnering public attention, BNPL firms came under the scanner for the lack of regulation seen in the sector…Minister Jones highlighted that BNPL services should be considered a part of the credit ecosystem as they serve the same purpose as other products in the segment. Additionally, the BNPL sector continues to dominate the market, with a large share of consumers showing interest in BNPL services. This further intensifies the need for regulatory oversight in the segment.”

“Buy now, pay later services are an increasingly popular way to purchase products online. These services often target young shoppers through social networks and promote the ability to purchase products like clothing or makeup via a small down payment followed by installment payments to cover the difference. But it’s not just physical stuff that you can click to buy and pay in full later. Travel providers have jumped on the trend by partnering with these services, which include Affirm  and Uplift, to let you fund your vacation in small payments — sometimes even after you’ve finished the trip.”

“The subscription economy, which saw huge growth during the pandemic, has started to slow, falling victim to the impact on consumer spending habits of the cost of living crisis. Research by Barclaycard Payments finds that, on average, businesses offering subscriptions estimate nearly two fifths (36%) of their revenue has been generated from these sales over the past 12 months, an 11% year-on-year uplift. However, with footfall on high streets returning to pre-pandemic levels as consumers’ lives get back to ‘normal’, the growth of the subscription economy has begun to decline, with Barclaycard proprietary data showing a 5.7% fall in subscription spending in May 2022 when compared to May 2021….On average, UK consumers have cancelled two agreements each, with entertainment platforms (17%) and beauty and grooming kits (nine%) among the categories most likely to have been cut back on. The number of households signed up to subscriptions has dipped by 14% points in a year, from 81% to 67%.”