Buy Now, Pay Later Drives Gen Z Into Debt

For Gabrielle, who asked that her last name be withheld, it didn’t feel like she was spending money because her BNPL payments weren’t due for weeks. And the more she spent, the more credit she got. More than a year later, the 19-year-old was left with a heap of new clothes, makeup and $3,500 in debt with balances across several BNPL apps — a common borrower practice called “loan stacking,” which the CFPB cited as a risk to consumers.