MILWAUKEE — Buy now, pay later has exploded in popularity, letting shoppers split purchases into smaller payments, but new data shows more people are now relying on these loans to make ends meet, using them to afford basic necessities like groceries.
New data from LendingTree shows nearly 1 in 3 buy now, pay later users are turning to these short-term loans to pay for groceries as high prices continue to stretch household budgets.
At the same time, LendingTree says 47% of buy now, pay later users have paid late on one of these loans in the past year.
It’s fast, it’s easy and for many shoppers, it doesn’t even feel like debt.
But debt relief experts caution that one of the biggest problems with buy now, pay later, or BNPL, is how easy it…