Money & WorkFact
Pay later is a loan, even if it isn't called one.
Buy now, pay later splits a purchase into small instalments and looks like a payment method, not a loan. That's precisely the trick: four instalments of €30 feel cheaper than €120. Missed payments trigger fees and default interest, and several parallel instalment plans are quickly lost track of. The EU's 2023 Consumer Credit Directive treats such offers as credit from November 2026.
Useful: If you can't pay for something in full today, instalments are rarely the answer.
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu