Buy Now, Pay Later: Hidden Merchant Fees Fuel Consumer Debt
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Resources & Recommendations
People Mentioned
- Amelia Schmarzo - A junior in college who fell into a "buy now, pay later" shopping spiral during the pandemic, providing a personal narrative for the episode.
- Terry Bradford (Payments Expert at the Kansas City Fed) - A payments expert who investigated buy now, pay later services and co-authored research on the topic.
- Julian Kasai (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) - A colleague of Terry Bradford who teamed up to research buy now, pay later services.
- Taylor Washington (Former Planet Money Producer) - The producer who initially pitched the buy now, pay later story for the podcast and is now in nursing school.
Organizations & Institutions
- Kansas City Fed (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) - An institution where Terry Bradford and Julian Kasai work, conducting research on payment systems like buy now, pay later.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - An organization that found buy now, pay later users often have other loan balances and a significant percentage pay late.
Websites & Online Resources
- Afterpay - A "buy now, pay later" service that Amelia used for her purchases.
- Klarna - A "buy now, pay later" service that Amelia used and was mentioned as a major player in the market.
- Affirm - A "buy now, pay later" service that Amelia used and was mentioned as a major player.
- Sezzle - A "buy now, pay later" service mentioned as part of the growing number of such companies.
- Zip - A "buy now, pay later" service mentioned as part of the growing number of such companies.
- Aritzia - A clothing brand from which Amelia bought jeans.
- Cherry - A lender mentioned for financing lip fillers and plastic surgeries, illustrating the expansion of "buy now, pay later" into various services.