U.S. Consumer
Buy Now, Default Later
A top U.S. banking regulator on Wednesday warned banks to manage the risks to consumers posed by increasingly popular "buy now, pay later" financing for retail spending, saying the service creates pitfalls for retail shoppers. As the year-end holidays approach, the statement from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent arm of the U.S. Treasury, was the latest sign that federal regulators are scrutinizing the increasingly popular form of consumer credit.