Commentary
With any looming recession, household debt is one of the clearest indicators of its severity.
Unlike the 2008 crisis, household debt is mostly manageable this time, but the picture worsens as inflation remains high.
A burgeoning but often overlooked source of household debt resides in “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) apps.
These apps fall within the realm of “fintech” and generally aren’t run by banks—with all of the regulatory reporting that comes with being a bank—so their magnitude and impact have been hard to measure.
BNPL apps include Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, and PayPal. And new services are entering the field weekly….