Jaquilina used Klarna to buy gifts for her children - within months she'd built up buy now, pay later debts so high she struggled to pay for groceries
For Jaquilina Landim it seemed harmless to start using ‘buy now, pay later’ to purchase her children’s clothes and presents.
The 33-year-old from Ipswich says she was continually offered the option of paying this way, using companies such as Klarna, while shopping online and in person, so it felt like a natural option.
Unlike applying for a credit card or loan, buy now, pay later (BNPL) allows you to stagger payments for individual purchases, usually over three or four instalments, with just the click of a button at checkout.
There are usually no interest or charges unless you fail to pay back on time, in which case fees are often imposed. These can be up to £10 for a Klarna purchase and £24 for other providers, so can quickly mount up for regular users of multiple BNPL services.
Many of the largest clothing shops and online retailers, such as John Lewis, Boots, Shein, H&M and Next offer the payment option.
Jaquilina says: ‘It’s very in your face and seemed to be everywhere when you physically go to a shop and online at the payment page.
‘Even if you’re not shopping, but you’re scrolling on your phone, the adverts are everywhere. And it seemed a great idea because when you come to pay, you think, ‘oh, I’ll deal with that another day.’
But problems soon started when Jaquilina became increasingly reliant on these short term shopping loans as she juggled expenses for her young family.
With multiple repayments due on various purchases, money was constantly leaving her bank account, and she couldn’t keep track of where her income was going.
Jaquilina Landim from Ipswich was continually offered the option of using buy now, pay later to make purchases
Money Wellness has seen a 300 per cent increase in people with 'BNPL' debts asking for advice in the past three years.
She soon struggled to budget month to month, leading to her falling behind with council tax and energy bills. The burden was worsened by late-payment fees on these loans, which compounded the debt.
She says: ‘I became very stressed and anxious. The amounts owed increased so fast even after I had already made several payments.’
Because she was in so much debt she felt she couldn’t afford to stop using BNPL to stay afloat.
Instead, she tried to reduce her usage gradually. However, this delay meant fees continued to accumulate.
‘I felt ashamed and found it hard to talk about,’ she says.
At her most vulnerable time, when she was between jobs soon after having her second child two years ago, Jaquilina owed £4,000 across numerous BNPL services and other bills. The strain became so severe that she found it difficult to cover essential living costs like the weekly food shop for her family.
Sadly, she is far from alone.
With UK consumers spending a whopping £30billion through BNPL last year, many inevitably end up falling behind and facing consequences.
One in four have reported missing payments, some of whom will have ended up being pursued by debt collectors.
Money Wellness, which helps people to manage their finances, warns there has been a 300 per cent increase in people with BNPL debts contacting it for advice in the past three years.
October to December 2025 was a record quarter for people seeking help, the organisation says.
And its experts anticipate this quarter will be even busier, with a further uptick driven by debts from Christmas spending starting to bite. Almost a third of those seeking help are aged between 26 and 35.
Buy now, pay later deals are increasingly being offered in-store as well as online
Money Wellness’ director of external relations, Sebrina McCullough, says the major problem is how BNPL is now being marketed and used.
When it started in the UK, BNPL was designed to help people manage large, unexpected expenses — such as spreading the cost of a broken washing machine.
In its first few years the average balance on BNPL accounts was £900, she says.
That has now dropped to £90 as consumers use it for small everyday purchases, including takeaways and parking at places such as Legoland Windsor and even parking fines.
‘So if you want to order a Chinese or a pizza, you can now pay for it in three instalments,’ says McCullough.
‘It means some people who come to us have over 100 different buy now, pay later transactions, and each one of them has a different payment date and a different payment amount.
‘So it’s hard to know if you can afford all those payments and immensely complicated just trying to remember which days things are going out, especially with different providers.
‘With so many payments coming out it’s very hard to keep track and budget, increasing the risk of late payment charges and plunging into a spiral of debt.’
With multiple charges on purchases of just £30, the amount owed can add up ‘very quickly’, she adds.
Some providers, such as Klarna, are introducing measures to help customers see when the transactions are due.
‘But it doesn’t take away from the fact that, for some customers, the sheer volume of payments going out mean they really struggle to check them all and make sure that they have the money in the bank to cover them,’ says McCullough.
Another problem is how easily available it is, which means many of those who come to them for help don’t consider BNPL as ‘real debt’.
When they ask Money Wellness to help figure out what they owe, they mention credit cards or loans but only acknowledge BNPL when prompted, despite often having ‘loads of them,’ she says.
‘People don’t often recognise what they’re getting into when they use it is a credit agreement and the consequences that they could face if that goes wrong,’ she adds.
This problem is exaggerated by BNPL options being so easily available at online checkouts, so people opt for it rather than paying in full on their debit card.
Rebecca Bolton from Halifax began using buy now, pay later while dealing with the costs of a new child
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who co-founded the company in 2005, with his wife Nina. He is valued by Forbes at $3.2billion (£2.3billion)
Because repayments are spread over several instalments, consumers worry less about the total value of the products and only think about how much it is going to cost them in the first month, she says. As a result, they often end up spending more than they normally would.
Another person who struggled was mother of two Rebecca Bolton, 30, from Halifax. Rebecca began using buy now pay later while dealing with the costs of a new child in 2021.
The money went on Christmas and birthday presents and clothes for her five-year-old daughter.
‘I found it easier,’ she says. ‘You buy now and worry about it later.’
Rebecca has foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a condition that affects her memory and concentration. She also has dyslexia.
She said it meant she never looked at the terms and conditions before using BNPL and payment dates and reminders were often missed, driving her into debt.
As the problems mounted, she began using BNPL even more to free up cash so she could pay off older debts.
The situation worsened after the birth of her second child, a son, three years ago, which put more pressure on her finances.
Things further deteriorated after the death of her grandfather, who had always been her financial lifeline and helped her cope in tough times.
‘That’s when it got very bad, because I knew I had no one to help me,’ she says.
The number of BNPL charges going out of her account meant she also struggled to pay council tax and other bills, and by last year she owed £7,000 to 20 separate creditors.
She started receiving messages from bailiffs warning about overdue payments.
‘It was very scary, especially having the children,’ she says.
By late summer last year, with council tax enforcement escalating, she went to Money Wellness which managed to get her a Debt Relief Order (DRO) that protected her from enforcement action.
Amid all the concerns about the rapid growth of this new loans industry, some changes are coming.
Until now, BNPL has largely operated outside consumer credit regulation. This means there has been no formal protection for customers against aggressive lending tactics. But from mid-July, its lenders will be overseen for the first time by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It means BNPL lenders will have to run stricter affordability checks and provide access to the Financial Ombudsman if there are complaints.
Meanwhile the industry continues to thrive.
Klarna celebrated hitting 11 million active customers in the UK last year where it is now used by 60,000 retailers.
Raji Behal, Klarna's head of southern and western Europe, UK & Ireland, described it as a ‘huge moment’ for the company.
‘We’ve gone from challenger to champion — and we’re just getting started,’ he said in a release at the time.
It’s no idle boast. Globally, Klarna has 93million regular users and more than 675,000 merchants and continues to grow at a huge pace.
For its part, Klarna stresses spreading a purchase over three interest-free months is ‘far safer’ than putting it on a credit card at 60 per cent APR.
A spokesman says: ‘Klarna is built to prevent debt traps. We assess every purchase individually and cut off access if payments are missed.
‘That’s why serious debt problems are far more common with credit cards. If people mostly spent money they already have, used BNPL occasionally, and relied less on credit cards, we’d see far fewer cases of debt.’
However, consumer expert James Daley of Fairer Finance, warns that you may be better off using a credit card to take on debt in some instances. He says: ‘It’s all about time. If you really have a plan to pay within three months then buy now pay later is very convenient.
‘But if you are going to need longer to borrow, or to borrow a bit more, it would make more sense to get a zero per cent credit card which can last for up to a couple of years.
‘Not everyone can get one, but if you have a reasonable credit rating you should be able to.’
He adds that most credit cards are also nowhere near 60 pc APR, with the average around 24 pc.
‘So for a small payment on buy now pay later, missed payment fees could make it work out more expensive than a credit card.
‘But you also need to remember that it’s normally a £12 charge for a missed payment on a credit card.’
A spokesman for Klarna stresses its profits came from a cut of revenue from the retailer for each purchase made through Klarna and that while it did charge ‘small and capped’ late fees there was no interest so it did not benefit if customers fell into debt. He also says takeaways made up a very small amount of spending on Klarna and it had not seen a trend towards smaller-value transactions.
Either way, it’s all very good news for Swedish entrepreneur Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who co-founded the company in 2005. He is valued by Forbes at $3.2billion (£2.3billion).
Klarna went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2025 at a $15billion (£11billion) valuation. Siemiatkowski owns a 7 per cent stake, now worth $537million.
In 2001 the Stockholm School of Economics graduate and his wife Nina showed the Wall Street Journal around their home in the Swedish capital, which was described as a ‘kind of fairy-tale castle with an octagonal turret jutting up on the side.’
Mrs Siemiatkowski told the paper that the home, which has marble clad bathrooms, a grand piano and extensive artworks, is her ‘dream house’ and she had coveted it since passing it as a child.
Meanwhile, back in Ipswich, Jaquilina, who is currently working part time as a cleaner, is now starting to turn things around after receiving help from Money Wellness to help her budget and get a debt management plan.
The organisation also helped direct her to grants and council tax support for the other bills she had fallen behind on after spiralling into debt.
‘These days I keep a proper book full of the dates when I’m paid and when I owe,’ she says. ‘And after my experience, I’ll never use buy now, pay later again.’
Rebecca has a similar message.
She has deleted her BNPL accounts and says she will never use them again.
‘I feel like you’re in a fog with them,’ she says. ‘I’d never go back because I’d probably just end up in the same situation again. And I’d advise anyone reading this not to start at all.’
- Have you successfully managed to clear a BNPL debt? moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
