The news: Klarna and Afterpay will not share the majority of their consumers’ loan information with credit bureaus until they can receive confirmation that their customers will not be penalized for seeking buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans.
Removing the veil: Critics of BNPL claim that installment loan providers are concealing a significant “phantom debt” in the US economy, which prevents banks and other traditional lenders from gauging how much debt an individual carries.