Image: © Alex Bascuas/Stock.adobe.com
Takeaway meals ordered through Deliveroo can now be paid for in instalments using Klarna.
Deliveroo customers in the UK can now pay for their takeaway meals using ‘buy now, pay later’ service Klarna – leading some to question the rationale behind the move.
The feature, which is also being made available in Ireland, gives users the option to pay for Deliveroo orders in instalments through Klarna.
The move has not been well received by personal finance experts who have described it as unnecessary.
“If you’re considering buying your takeaway now and paying for it later…don’t,” said personal finance expert Tara Flynn.
Flynn, who works at money and finance comparison website Choose Wisely, said that it is not worth getting into debt over a meal “that’s gone in 15 minutes”.
“Having fast food delivered should be considered a treat for now and again, and if you can’t afford to do it, you shouldn’t. I think it’s irresponsible for Deliveroo to offer this as an option and need to seriously reconsider this move ASAP.”
Unsurprisingly, Twitter is also abuzz with views on the move. Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, tweeted that while buy now, pay later may seem innocuous, it is not yet regulated and is still a form of debt.
“Borrowing should only be if needed, for [a] planned one-off budgeted purchase, not a cheeky Nando’s,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Klarna told Independent.co.uk that people have been paying for food deliveries with credit cards and overdrafts “for decades”.
“They’ve been stung by rip-off fees and extortionate interest, so it’s time consumers had the choice of a healthier alternative where they only ever pay the original cost of the purchase.”
Buy now, pay later is a growing sector and there are plans to regulate companies in this space in the UK and the US.
Klarna is one of the big names in buy now, pay later. This Swedish fintech, which launched its services in Ireland last year, allows shoppers to split up payments for a purchase over short instalments.
While it has seen rapid growth in recent years and hit a mega valuation in 2021, Klarna announced plans in May to cut 10pc of its workforce, citing increasing inflation, a volatile stock market and the war in Ukraine.
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