Families hit particularly hard by the rise of the cost-of-living and subsequent crisis are now being targeted by credit firms and supermarket schemes offering ‘buy now, pay’ deals on weekly groceries.
Urged to ‘spread’ their payments for everything from staple foods such as bread, milk, and cereal to treats like biscuits, sweets and alcohol, consumers are being encouraged to cope with ‘difficult times’ by spending.
Managing your money in this way can be a ‘debt trap.’ Here’s why you should avoid paying for your shopping in such a dangerous and irresponsible way.
Buy Now, Pay Later Grocery Schemes
“Regardless of your credit rating, we will offer you a tonne of credit to do your shopping with.” Not our words, of course, but those of a recent promotional campaign.
Despite UK regulators emphasising that the latest surge in interest-free credit does not offer enough protection for people who are already on the cusp of being in significant debt, buy now, pay later schemes – particularly food-shopping-based ones – are now more popular than ever thanks to the rise of the cost of living.
With new regulations yet to come to fruition, many welfare groups warn the new form of credit is “like a runaway train.”
From Zilch advertising ready meals, pet food and fizzy drinks in partnership with Iceland, to Flava – an online supermarket offering up everything from Coco Pops to Pot Noodles – to Clearpay marketing a range of food and drink products including gin, vodka and sweets, operators and creditors are signing partnership deals that could change the grocery shopping landscape forever.
The Buy Now, Pay Later Marketplace
Published recently, a report by consultancy firm, Bain & Company, estimated that the buy now, pay later market is worth around £6.4bn a year in the UK. They also found that these schemes are used regularly by about 10 million shoppers.
Furthermore, Mehmet Sezgin, an ex-board member at Mastercard Europe and now a global retail banking specialist remarked: “No one should buy perishable items like food on credit. It’s an invitation to indebtedness and bankruptcy.”
And it is his words that ring most true because, in fact, the team here at Cobra Financial Solutions can be instructed to recover a buy now, pay later debt should it be over £1,000. With this in mind, one in three buy now, pay later users have missed at least one payment or regularly made a late payment every month.
Trust The Debt Recovery Experts with Your Reputation
Established in 2009, our specialist private debt recovery team are experts in the field of Buy Now, Pay Later debt recovery. Ahead of an expected crackdown on the payment market, we are expected to be recovering a wave of Klarna-related debts in the new year.
With over 75 years’ combined experience in the industry, we know how to recover Buy Now, Pay Later debts. And, if your debt is over £1,000, we can act almost immediately when it comes to recovering a debt of any size over the threshold.
That said, if you’re a small business and are owed money and want to get it back, take decisive action and instruct Cobra today on 0151 526 4222.
You can also email us at admin@cobrafinancial.co.uk.
