Buy now, PAY LATER

With more British shoppers spreading payments, we look at the benefits and the pitfalls

- WORDS: CAROLINE BLOOR. PHOTOS: GETTY

Back in the 60s and 70s, many households spread the cost of big-ticket items by paying in instalments. By the 80s, store credit had become a normal part of shopping. Then in 2014, a modern form of those instalment plans arrived: Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). First popularised by Klarna, and quickly followed by Clearpay, Laybuy, Zilch and others, it made it possible to spread payments for everything from takeaways to furniture without paying any interest.