When you're buying stuff, instead of paying the full amount at checkout,
buy now, pay later, lets you split the cost into smaller installments over months.
It's become a widely popular worldwide,
according to a recent U.S. report, especially among young women.
who are more likely to use it even though men still carry more overall debt.
With this shift in how we borrow and spend, is it a smart budgeting tool?
or are we sugarcoating?
A dangerous habit.
Coming to you live from Beijing, this is Rantable.
I'm Ha Young.
For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly, and you shouldn't in the studio.
First on today's show.
In China, e-commerce giants have been ahead of the curve on buy now, pay later,
rolling it out in innovative ways and weaving it into shopping festivals, platforms,
and the everyday habits of millennials and Gen Z. born in the 1980s and 1990s.
For many, splitting payments into smaller installments isn't just convenient,
it's become second nature.
Meanwhile, in the US, the same service has taken on a different spin, marketed as quote-unquote,
cute debt to young women,
with influencers and brands dressing it up in pink and selling it as something lighthearted and fun.