#afterpay

Updated: February 2026 Home › FinTech & Modern Money Tools › Payment Apps & Digital Wallets About the Author Don Briscoe is a Financial Systems Coach with 12+ years of experience helping Millennials and Gen Z escape paycheck-to-paycheck cycles. He founded PersonalOne on a framework-first philosophy — less willpower, more infrastructure — and provides structured, honest, free financial…

Buy Now Pay Later Apps: That Old Predatory Lending by a Crappy New Name

Whether or not you’ve heard of BNPL, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Why the vitriol? The utter contempt?

I listened to a lot of interviews with buy now pay later customers in my research for this article. And when asked how their personal problems with BNPL started, these customers all said the same thing: “It all started with the pandemic.” And those personal problems ranged from debt spiraling out of control, to plummeting credit scores, to unexpected overdraft fees, to not even wanting what they’d paid for after their final payment.

There we all were, stuck alone in our homes, unable to shop or go out to events or restaurants. We were bored! Lonely! Fucking stressed out and afraid! A lot of us were tightening the budgetary belt because—and I am living proof—job security got a whole lot less secure.

Enter retail therapy with a fun new twist. Suddenly, us lonely, locked-down, stressed-out motherfuckers looking for a cheap pick-me-up were seeing ads for awesome new stuff on an interest-free payment plan. That sounds downright affordable!

And who cares if no one will see me in these shmancy new boots any time soon? I will wear them for me, and I will clomp around in my fourth-floor walkup so my downstairs neighbors know I can afford nice things! They say “QUIET DOWN UP THERE,” but they mean “We are consumed with jealousy at your good fortune!”

Of course, the thing about deals that look too good to be true is they probably absolutely are, 100% of the time.

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