BNPL: Savior or hoax?
by Robert McGarvey
Just six months ago, BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) seemed to be on every lip in credit union c-suites as executives eyed the rosy reports of robust lending at fintechs such as Klarna and Affirm but then came May and Klarna laid off 10% of its workforce amid a souring of the global economy and soaring worries about inflation, certainly in the U.S. where a gallon of gasoline now is around $5, up from about $4.35 just a month ago.
Add in the fact that the CFPB has opened an inquiry into BNPL and formally requested buckets of information from leading BNPL players and, suddenly, that screech you hear are the brakes being applied to BNPL at many, many financial institutions, credit unions definitely among them.
Dark clouds surround BNPL.