2026年9月2日 / 美国东部时间下午5:05 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：梅根·塞鲁洛 《财经观察》记者
“先买后付”贷款最初的宣传定位是帮助消费者负担电子产品、服装等小额商品。如今，金融机构也在大力推广这类贷款，将其作为人们支付房租、杂货、电费甚至医疗费用等必要开支的手段。
消费者权益倡导者警告称，使用“先买后付”贷款支付日常必需品和其他关键开支存在风险，并指出放贷机构有时会隐瞒这类短期贷款的潜在成本。专门调查金融侵权行为的非营利倡导组织“保护借款人”最近的一项民调发现，许多“先买后付”贷款用户表示，他们用贷款支付生活必需品，包括房租或住房成本。
美国全国消费者法律中心的高级律师阿里尔·纳尔逊表示，越来越多人使用“先买后付”贷款支付房租及其他生活必需品，凸显出多年来受高通胀影响的众多美国人正为生活成本苦苦挣扎。该中心是一个致力于为低收入群体争取经济正义的非营利倡导组织。
“这类贷款最具启示意义的地方，在于它暴露了我国可负担性——或者说不可负担性——的现状：人们正挣扎着能否按时、一次性付清房租和水电费用，”纳尔逊对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，“往好里说，[先买后付贷款]只能起到临时创可贴的作用。即便如此，它们也并非没有风险。”
日益严重的依赖问题
“先买后付”贷款于2010年代首次推出，在2020年代初受到消费者的广泛欢迎。这类贷款允许消费者将大额消费拆分为多笔免息分期付款，通常是在数周或数月内分四期还款。
这类贷款广受欢迎的一个主要原因是，消费者只需提供基本信息，无需进行信用核查，就能在在线或线下结账时当场获得贷款。
大多数“先买后付”放贷机构通过收取固定月费以及贷款金额的一定比例来盈利。通常这类产品不会收取滞纳金，但如果客户此前有过逾期还款记录，许多放贷机构会拒绝其新的贷款申请。
作为一项金融创新，“先买后付”贷款大获成功，凸显出消费者对可直接在销售点获得的短期分期付款贷款的强劲需求。根据美联储经济学家的研究，2025年美国人的“先买后付”贷款借款额达到1600亿美元，大约是两年前的两倍。报告显示，其中超过960亿美元的贷款是免息的。
在线贷款市场平台LendingTree最近的一项调查显示，超过一半的借款人——54%——表示，如果没有这类贷款，他们将无法维持收支平衡。
LendingTree首席信贷分析师马特·舒尔茨对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，用户最初依靠这类贷款购买“轻奢”商品，如名牌服装或游戏机，但现在消费者越来越多地用它们来支付生活必需品。
“‘先买后付’放贷机构做得非常出色，让这类贷款可以用于支付几乎任何费用，”他说。
LendingTree的调查显示，近30%的“先买后付”用户表示他们用这类产品支付杂货费用，高于两年前的14%。另有23%的受访者表示，他们曾用“先买后付”贷款支付医疗、牙科或兽医费用，或是房租。
“理论上来说，如果你能在到期日前还款且没有额外融资成本，当然可以用它来救急，”“保护借款人”的政策、研究与数据分析专员詹妮弗·张对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，“但这类贷款可能充斥着滞纳金和杂费，这些费用会滚雪球般增长，成为许多人的财务困境源头。”
为借款人提供灵活选择，还是沦为高风险债务陷阱？
总部位于旧金山的“先买后付”放贷机构Affirm今年1月推出了一项试点项目，通过与灵活租金支付服务商Esusu Pay合作，允许租房者将月度房租拆分为两期支付。两家公司表示，这项服务为租房者提供了灵活性，同时确保房东能按时收到租金。
尽管这类贷款免息且不收取滞纳金，但希望将房租分两期支付的客户必须购买会员，会员费每月35至50美元不等。
Affirm和Esusu均未回应有关“先买后付”贷款可能对消费者造成高昂成本的置评请求。
消费者权益倡导者表示，“先买后付”产品可能会让消费者陷入更深的债务，尤其是当借款人从不同放贷机构获取多笔还款周期重叠的贷款时。例如，由于“先买后付”贷款是通过自动从银行账户扣款偿还的，贷款还款可能会迅速耗尽借款人的资金，进而触发透支手续费。
“这些产品的结构看似成本低廉，但实际上并非如此，”美国全国消费者法律中心的纳尔逊表示，“它们可能包含月度会员费或订阅费，还可能附带滞纳金和处理费，用户还可能面临透支或资金不足的费用。”
“我们提供的是时间”
另一家总部位于纽约的放贷机构Flex提供贷款服务，允许客户将房租、水电、电话、互联网和汽车贷款拆分为多期小额还款。
借款人需支付标准的6美元月费，以将房租分两期偿还，此外还要支付贷款金额的3%以及0.5%的处理费。Flex对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，例如，月租金为1500美元的客户，通常每月需为这笔贷款支付30至40美元。
Flex会在每月1日或房租到期日全额向房东支付客户的房租。Flex公共事务副总裁瑞安·梅特卡夫将这类贷款描述为为消费者争取时间的方式。
“这是为那些收支时间不匹配的租房者设计的，因为他们的发薪日并不总是与房租或其他必要账单的到期日重合，”他对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，“我们不卖钱，我们卖的是时间。”
LendingTree的舒尔茨表示，与大多数金融工具一样，“先买后付”贷款有助于预算管理，但前提是消费者明智地使用它们。
“这类贷款免息且还款计划明确，确实非常实用，但你很容易就会超出自己的还款能力，”他指出，这类贷款申请容易获批，也让人容易过度消费。
“如果你没有太多信贷和财务管理经验，这可能会是一个真正的挑战，”舒尔茨补充道。
编辑：阿兰·谢特尔
People are turning to BNPL loans to pay for rent, food and other necessities
September 2, 2026 / 5:05 PM EDT / CBS News
By Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch
“Buy now, pay later” loans were originally promoted as a way to help consumers afford small purchases, such as electronics and clothing. Now, financial firms are also pushing the loans as a means for people to cover essential expenses, such as rent, groceries, electricity bills and even medical costs.
Consumer advocates warn that using BNPL loans for daily necessities and other critical expenses is risky, noting that lenders sometimes obscure the potential costs of these short-term loans. A recent poll from Protect Borrowers, a nonprofit advocacy group that investigates financial abuses, found that many BNPL users report using the loans for essentials, including for rental or housing costs.
Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports economic justice for low-income people, said the growing usage of BNPL loans for rent and other necessities underlines how many Americans, depleted in recent years by high inflation, are struggling with the cost of living.
“The most helpful thing about them is what they reveal about the state of affordability — or unaffordability — in our country, which is that people are struggling to pay rent and utilities on time and in one amount,” Nelson told CBS News. “At best, [BNPL loans] can act as a temporary Band-Aid. Even then, they are not risk-free.”
Growing dependence
BNPL loans first became available in the 2010s before gaining traction with consumers in the early 2020s. The loans allow consumers to divide larger purchases into smaller interest-free payments, typically in four installments over a few weeks or months.
A major reason for their popularity is that borrowers can get a loan on the spot at checkout, online or in stores by providing basic information and without a credit check.
Most BNPL lenders make money by charging a fixed monthly fee, plus a percentage of the loan amount. Often, the products don’t charge late fees, although many lenders will decline applications for a new loan if a customer has previously been late on payments.
As a financial innovation, BNPL loans have been a huge hit, highlighting strong consumer demand for short-term installment loans available right at the point of sale. In 2025, Americans borrowed $160 billion in BNPL loans — roughly double the amount from two years earlier, according to research by Federal Reserve economists. More than $96 billion in loans was issued without interest, according to the report.
More than half of those borrowers — 54% — say they wouldn’t be able to make ends meet without the loans, according to a recent survey from LendingTree, an online lending marketplace.
While users initially leaned on the loans to make “stretch” purchases like designer clothing or gaming consoles, consumers are now increasingly relying on them to cover necessities, Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, told CBS News.
“BNPL lenders have done a really good job of making these types of loans accessible to pay for almost anything,” he said.
Nearly 30% of BNPL users said they had used the products to pay for groceries, up from 14% two years ago, according to the LendingTree survey. Another 23% of respondents reported using a BNPL loan to pay for medical, dental or veterinary expenses, or for rent.
“Theoretically, if you can make the payment by the due date and there are no additional financing costs, sure, it could help,” Jennifer Zhang, a policy, research and data analyst at Protect Borrowers, told CBS News. “But they can be packed to the brim with late fees and junk fees that can snowball and become a source of financial distress for many people.”
Flexibility for borrowers or risky debt trap?
Affirm, a San Francisco-based BNPL lender, in January launched a pilot that lets renters split their monthly payments into two installments through a partnership with Esusu Pay, a flexible rent payment provider. The companies say the service gives renters flexibility while ensuring landlords are paid on time.
Although the loans are interest-free and incur no late fees, customers who want the ability to pay their rent in two installments must purchase a membership costing between $35 and $50 per month.
Neither Affirm nor Esusu responded to a request for comment on claims that BNPL loans can be costly for consumers.
Consumer advocates say BNPL products can drive consumers deeper into debt, especially when borrowers take out multiple loans from different providers with overlapping repayment periods. For example, because BNPL loans are repaid through automatic withdrawals from a person’s bank account, loan payments can quickly drain a borrower’s funds and trigger an overdraft fee.
“The products are structured so they seem like they’re low cost, but actually they’re not low cost,” said Nelson of the National Consumer Law Center. “They can include a monthly membership or subscription fee, come with late and processing fees, and users might face overdraft or insufficient funds fees.”
“We’re selling time”
Another lender, New York-based Flex, offers loans that allow customers to split their rent, utilities, phone, internet and car payments into smaller installments.
Borrowers pay a standard $6 monthly fee to split their rent payment in two, plus 3% of the loan amount and a 0.5% processing fee. For example, a customer whose rent is $1,500 a month would typically pay between $30 and $40 per month for the loan, Flex told CBS News.
Flex, in turn, pays its customers’ landlord in full on the first of the month, or whenever their rent is due. Ryan Metcalf, vice president of public affairs at Flex, described the loan as a way for consumers to buy time.
“It is for renters who have a timing mismatch, because when they are paid doesn’t always match up with what rent or other essential bills are due,” he told CBS News. “We’re not selling money, we’re selling time.”
Schulz of LendingTree said that, like most financial tools, BNPL loans can help with budget management, but only if consumers use them wisely.
“It can be really good because it’s interest-free and predictable, but you can get out over your skis pretty easily,” he said, noting that the loans are easy to get, which makes it easy to overspend.
“If you are somebody who doesn’t have a lot of experience with credit and managing these sorts of things, it can be a real challenge,” Schulz added.
Edited by Alain Sherter
