Companies like Zilch and Klarna conspicuously monetising debt as a brand and specifically targeting young women through brand partnerships and offers with asos et al. Let’s talk about it

Offers like 20% off when you buy using Klarna or AfterPay and “shop like a queen” messaging etc is insidious and just another step towards normalising debt and credit reliance as aspirational

The brand partnerships feel particularly eyebrow raising given how tightly aligned the stores are with naming specific buy now pay later brands (again, with AfterPay and Klarna falling into the same category for this)

All in all I’m very concerned that it feels like every week I’m seeing another viral tweet of a young person (invariably a woman) celebrating paying off substantial online shopping debts - which inevitably includes one of these companies

And frankly these people should never have been put in that situation in the first place. This kind of marketing is fundamentally predatory and dangerous, especially when I’ve experienced getting to a checkout and seeing Klarna, AfterPay etc. selected as a default payment method

I worry that this trend is only going to get worse as the long-term financial impacts of Covid-19 become clear and people’s incomes take a knock, and while these companies are still being so prominently advertised and sponsored across so many channels

To demonstrate, I just went onto the Monki website.

And look at that - Klarna as the default. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not sure that’s a sufficient explanation of what Klarna is or does. This is so cynical and WILL put people at serious risk of debt