Woman explains how 'buy now, pay later' apps are luring Gen Z into debt traps and it's an eye-opener

Every individual has grown up dreaming of the day they can spend their own hard-earned money to purchase the things they love. New generations are finding out that you can buy things without having to spend money and it's sucking them into debt traps. One woman who saw her younger sister making online purchases without paying for it raised alarm bells for other youngsters, warning them of the pitfalls of the scheme and it's an eye-opener. Buy now, pay later schemes can offer immediate gratification to people but they can easily lead to financial pitfalls. With the development of smartphones, there are now many apps that allow people to buy something and pay for it later. But almost all of the schemes offered have high rates of interest, hidden fees and can contribute to overspending, which can catch many people off guard. TikTok influencer Laken Banks (@lakenbanks_) who calls herself a "Budget Queen," recently shared a video about how her 18-year-old sister had gotten into debt without having a credit card. 

She does not waste any time in the video and shares with her viewers that payment apps were hurting the credit scores of youngsters. Banks then showcased screenshots of missed payments on the app that were hurting her sister's credit. She says, "Like, she has consumer debt without a credit card." The woman states how people should be very wary about using such apps. She goes on about how there was nobody educating youngsters about the danger that these apps posed. 

Banks continues, saying, "My sister is 18 years old, lives at home and makes $1600 a month." She talks about how such apps allowed her sister to pay for things she wanted despite making very little money. Banks tells her viewers to be very cautious about such tricky financial schemes, as they would often push people into debt. She advises her viewers to only use one at a time if they decide to use it. She concludes, saying, "One thing at a time and you're paying it off every time." 

People on the site expressed their views in the comments section. @tlrlxndr said, "Experience is unfortunately the best teacher sometimes. She'll learn to manage her spending at some point." @nelllllllll_ pointed out, "These apps prey on young people, hopefully, she realized." @adayinthelifeofkate said, "The idea is that these companies want to get the next generation into so much debt, they'll never be able to afford anything."

Another Reddit user u/boomerindoubt faced kind of a similar situation when he came to know that his son was in an alarming amount of debt. The individual was a father to three kids and was struggling to get their youngest son, a 21-year-old to stick to a budget. He said, “Our youngest is finishing college, and we have financially supported him so far. As with our other two, we established a small spending allowance, with restrictions on how much he could spend. He has chafed under this restriction in a way that his siblings never did.”

The youngster spent large amounts of his parent's money “partying” and on “boys' weekends.” What is even more worrying is the fact that he had no shame in asking them for money when he ran out. The parents suggested he get a part-time job, but he got angry and accused them of being "stingy" and "cruel." In fact, it soon reached a point where they had to financially cut him off after he ended up using his father's credit card to buy a lot of alcohol. The son became frustrated and opted for a credit card with which he accumulated a debt of $9000 and had to ask his parents to pay it off.