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BNPL firms ordered to refund charges to users following FCA crackdown

The Financial Conduct Authority is cracking down on potentially unfair and unclear terms in the contracts of Clearpay, Klarna, Laybuy and Openpay ahead up-and-coming regulation of the UK buy now, pay later market.

3 comments

BNPL firms ordered to refund charges to users following FCA crackdown

Editorial

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The FCA says it was concerned there was a potential risk of harm to consumers as a result of the way some of the firm’s terms were drafted.

Even though the type of buy-now-pay-later agreements offered are not yet regulated, the FCA was able to use the Consumer Rights Act to assess the fairness and transparency of the terms.

As a result, the firms are making terms on issues like contract cancellations and continuous payment authorities fairer and easier to understand. In addition, one of the terms that involved late payment fees has resulted in Clearpay Laybuy, and Openpay agreeing to voluntarily refund customers who have been charged late payment fees in specific circumstances.

The refunds will be paid where a customer has cancelled their entire order but have been charged a late payment fee for a loan repayment after the loan should have been cancelled. The FCA says people who believe they have been subject to similar charges shoud contact their provider to demand a refund.

Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, says: "We do not yet have powers to regulate these firms, but we do have powers to review the terms and conditions of consumer contracts for fairness, and have acted proactively to ensure that the BNPL industry adopts high standards in their terms and conditions.

"The four BNPL firms we have worked with have all voluntarily agreed to change their approach. We welcome this and hope that the rest of the industry will now follow."

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Comments: (3)

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

LOL I'm waiting for "Visa survey reveals 0% can calculate how much BNPL purchases would cost after late payment fees."

H/T Klarna survey reveals 0% can calculate how much credit card purchases would cost after interest.

David Coker

David Coker Senior Lecturer - Finance & Fintech at University of Westminster

About time for these firms to be regulated, an amazingly large percentage of BNPL customers default, with the attendant damage this has not only on their credit ratings, but economic well being.

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

"The frequent transactional nature of BNPL loans have the potential to unduly negatively impact credit scores even when they're repaid as agreed.” ~ https://thefinancialbrand.com/129599/why-consumers-dont-think-bnpl-is-debt-and-why-that-matters/.

AFAIK, at least in USA, BNPL does not feed into traditional CRAs, so I'm not sure if BNPL defaulters will face any impact on their credit ratings / scores.

In line with my general preference for lightbrush regulation, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, at least as of now, BNPL should be left between lender and borrower.

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