The latest edition of Oaklen Consulting's industry watch highlights the risk of over-indebtedness due to payment facilities.
The latest edition of Oaklen Consulting's industry watch highlights the risk of over-indebtedness due to payment facilities.
Although certain payment facilities offered to consumers are not strictly speaking subject to credit regulations, one of the objectives of which is to avoid overindebtedness, the Cour des Comptes, in its annual report, expresses concern about the costs of leasing with an option to purchase (LOA) or long-term leasing (LLD) for the consumers who subscribe to them. It therefore calls for a reinforcement of the supervision of these practices, no doubt following the same logic as consumer credit.
We can anticipate that Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) facilities, which are currently being developed rapidly, may also be affected by this framework.
In Australia, this concern for BNPL also exists, but the market players within the AFIA (Australian Finance Industry Association) have adopted a code of good practice to govern their activity. Among the nine key commitments, we note in particular the "benevolence" before applying late payment penalties and a transparent and diligent process for handling complaints.