https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-07/-buy-now-pay-later-has-americans-racking-up-phantom-debt
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15144297
Consumers have embraced 'Buy Now, Pay Later' products that allow them to pay for purchases in installments, but it's not clear how many of these loans are out there.
Paywall removed: https://archive.is/9SYHz
I assume they're complaining about this "phantom debt" that they can't see? It's behind a firewall, so they're hiding the article where I can't see. /s
BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) debts not recorded with credit agencies, so no idea how much.
I have zero idea why this is collapse related but here we are.
Global Financial Crisis 2 is definitely a fast component in the overall collapse process. Unaccounted consumer debt is a useful facet of a diagnostic. We don't know where exactly the spark will originate that will blow up GFC2. It could as well start there, though it's not very probable.
Wells Fargo estimates that there's about $46 billion dollars in phantom debt, and that's just from "Buy Now, Pay Later.” And that's just in the US alone.