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By: Real America News Updated 28 Sea 2022, 13: 13 pm EDT
In recent years, thousands of Americans have purchased appliances, clothing or jewelry with payment facilities, such as the so-called ‘buy now, pay later’.
Now, this practice has also been extended to the purchase of gasoline, whose price reached record levels.
Klarna, a financial services company that facilitates the ‘buy now and pay later’ method, allows Chevron and Texaco customers to pay for gasoline for six weeks.
Although this method was already offered by Klarna since before the price increase, it is a strategy that consumers have begun to consider more frequently to deal with fuel inflation.
The use of these payment plans by consumers with li Liquidity has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic and continues in recent months as they allow consumers to split purchase payments, typically in four interest-free installments. Rates are only activated if payments are made late.
“Our products are interest-free, which means consumers don’t have to worry about accruing interest like they would with a credit card if they need to more time to pay off your balance,” a Klarna spokeswoman told The Washington Post in a statement.
Klarna ensures that it restricts the use of its ‘buy now’ products , pay later’ if a customer misses a payment to avoid accumulating debt.
“Our losses are well below the standard of the credit card industry,” the company said.
“If someone’s circumstances change, we have specialized support available (including chat the 24 hours, 7 days a week on our app or by phone) yl or help devise a payment plan to get back to normal”.
Even if people fall behind, Klarna says it does not provide account information or payment histories to any of the country’s credit bureaus.
Payment plans in basic services, the last option
Payment plans have become the way that millions of Americans get by financially.
Almost the 40% of current cardholders have a balance on their cards, according to the latest credit card market report from the American Bankers Association.
Finance experts have pointed out that Filling a gas tank or buying food with credit cards is not a recommended practice and they should be paid in cash or debit.
However, it is an option for those whose money is so scarce, who cannot otherwise afford gasoline to get to work or have to choose between filling the tank or buy the supermarket.
For those who live on the financial limit, the jumps in the price of gasoline are frightening because there is no cushion in their budget and there is no expense os to cut.
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