$TREE LendingTree Tape Reports
Per Ticker.id: $TREE LendingTree Tape Reports — 3 podcast mentions across 2 podcasts (30 days), latest 2026-08-21 19:08 UTC.
Affirm, another player in this market, has also offered some renters short-term financing that essentially gives them additional time to make their rent payment. And the market has gotten very big. The Times reports that Americans spent roughly $160 billion through buy now pay later loans last year, nearly twice the level of 2023. So in just 2 years, this market has exploded. I think the more revealing statistics are the ones telling us why people are using these products. So I found a new LendingTree survey that 54% of BNPL users say they need these loans to make ends meet. And among parents with children under 18, this number is rising to 62%. And that to me is the story. We are increasingly financing the cost of simply being alive. And by the way, grocery use is rising fast. LendingTree found that 29% of BNPL users have now used these loans to buy food. 2 years ago, it was just 14%. So we're not talking about a handbag or sweater or a TV anymore. We're talking about milk, eggs. I don't think buy now, pay later plans are inherently evil. There are legitimate reasons why someone today chooses one of these loans over another form of borrowing, right? Maybe it's because they like the repayment period being very short. There's no interest attached to these BNPL plans. The fees in some cases may seem clearer than what you'd pay carrying a balance on a credit card. And let's be honest, where credit card rates are, if the alternative is revolving a balance at 20-something percent, an interest-free installment can look very attractive. And let's say your rent is due on the 1st and your paycheck hits on the 5th and you're borrowing money for 4 days. I get it why somebody would look at this and say, this solves my problem. But here's where I think we need to make a really important distinction. Are you solving a timing problem or are you solving an affordability problem? Because they're not the same problem. If you have $2,000 coming on Friday and you need $1,500 today, that's cash flow timing. But if you need $1,500 today and you have $900 coming on Friday, that's affordability. That's a deficit issue. And there's not really a financial product that can permanently solve that second crisis.
Farnoosh Torabi — So Money with Farnoosh Torabi · 2025: Ask Farnoosh: Are We in a Housing Bubble? Plus: BNPL Warning Signs, AI Shopping Scams & Should You Consolidate Your 401(k)s? · 2026-08-21It can disguise it, it can rearrange the calendar, but it cannot make the math math. So that's why I get concerned when these tools just become a regular part of a household's operating budget. If you're financing your electricity this month because you don't have enough money to pay for electricity, the next month you don't have just another electricity bill, you have next month's electricity bill plus this month's installment, and it's gonna snowball. LendingTree found that 1 in 4 buy now pay later users had 3 or more loans active at the same time. It also found 47% of those users made a late payment on the plan within the past year, and that's up also from 2 years ago. So there's a trend, and because one of the behavioral of buy now, pay later is that it makes the purchase price psychologically smaller. You stop thinking, oh my gosh, this is $400. You think it's 4 payments of $100, or it's only $32 today. And a majority of users say that these loans cause them to overspend. More than half have regretted a purchase using a BNPL plan. So this isn't me scolding people. I'm just pointing out that the product works partly because it changes how we perceive cost. Cost, just like with credit cards. And there's another issue here that I think deserves a lot of attention, which is that sometimes this is called phantom debt. The BNPL loans historically have not appeared in the traditional credit reporting ecosystem, and this is a big problem for me. If you're going to borrow money, which is essentially what you're doing with BNPL, and you're doing the good job of paying it back on time, that you should be rewarded for this. This should go on your report card, your credit report card, right? But BNPLs don't all have the same visibility, so it makes it harder for lenders to see the consumer's complete financial obligations. And, you know, I'm going to be optimistic here and say that you're doing well with these plans. They should— that should work in your favor. So not shaming people for using these products. In many cases, I get it. There are systemic issues with our financial system, our wages, all of the things where it makes a plan like this fit a need for the short term.
Farnoosh Torabi — So Money with Farnoosh Torabi · 2025: Ask Farnoosh: Are We in a Housing Bubble? Plus: BNPL Warning Signs, AI Shopping Scams & Should You Consolidate Your 401(k)s? · 2026-08-21