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[–] 14 points 1 day ago (6 children)
  • [–] 18 points 1 day ago (5 children)

    TIL Klarna is Swedish. But they've been popular in the US since before/around COVID.

    Anyway, Klarna is a shitty by-now-pay-later (BNPL) payment service that allows you to "finance" everyday pruchases on websites. Don't you love it when you go into debt over paying for your Temu clothes, your video game DLC, and your Amazon Fresh purchases?

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  • [–] 10 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

    I tried it once. For the stuff I was financing they never charged any interest. Are they making money completely off people who default on payments?

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  • [–] 14 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

    Yes. It's extremely predatory. I commonly see people asking for financial support when they have gone way over their ability to pay back. In Australia the fees for late or failed payment are often starting at $10 per instance.

    I used a similar service once to buy a plane ticket, which was very sudden and unexpected, one week before I got paid (monthly). Even though I knew I had the remaining payments coming up and budgeted for it, the psychology of having the cash in your account absolutely can tip you into buying more before your last purchase is paid off.

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  • [–] 7 points 22 hours ago (1 child)

    Damn, I've never looked at lending like that. Thank you for humoring me so I can examine that.

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  • [–] 5 points 13 hours ago

    Yep, it measurably increases consumer spending.

    $500... Can't afford that. Now $125? Yeah I could come up with that.

    Psychologically they often don't really think beyond that first payment, and then are pretty stressed when they need $125 for the next three fortnights...

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