THE APPEAL OF SPLITTING THE BILL

Buy Now, Pay Later services are gaining traction as they allow consumers to justify hefty price tags with interest-free instalments and discounts

- Teo Kai Xiang

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(SPAYLATER)

Mr Amirul's first brush with the world of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) came in 2021, when he was in national service.

The then-20-year-old discovered that he could turn a $75.90 pair of Converse trainers into three interest-free payments of $22.77 via an app called Atome. Plus, it came with the extra incentive of a 10 per cent discount voucher.

That kicked off what Mr Amirul, now 23, describes as his fashion and skincare phase of spending $100 to $200 a month on the BNPL platform. No credit checks or lengthy sign-up process were necessary.

The tutor, who declined to give his last name, says the price of skincare products that would have cost $60 to $100 apiece upfront seemed quite reasonable after being split into smaller monthly instalments.

Therein lies the appeal of buying now and paying later.

Experts and multiple studies point to how this distinctive pricing mechanism eases the pain of buying and allows consumers to justify price tags that they might otherwise baulk at - all through a sleek and user-friendly interface.

Mr Amirul has since put his Atome spending spree behind him, but now spends around $300 to $500 a month on rides and food deliveries through Grab PayLater, a BNPL provider built into the super-app's payments system.

In September alone, he racked up $800 in expenses on Grab Pay-Later.

"There's this term called luxury poverty," Mr Amirul says ruefully, referring to the pursuit of nonessential goods and services when long-term financial milestones such as owning a home feel out of reach, particularly among the younger generation.

"PayLater is like 'spend first, worry later'. It's for things that you don't need, but want."

BNPL'S COMEBACK

His experience encapsulates a broader trend sweeping Singapore's retail scene in an uncertain economic climate.