Appearing in The New York Times on August 17, 2026, Stacy Cowley talks to Lauren Saunders, senior attorney at NCLC about how the rise in pay-later financing comes as many households are leaning more on debt to keep up with their daily expenses.
For many borrowers, the loans have become their only option: Half of those using them said they could not make ends meet otherwise.
The loans “address the real need that people are short of funds, but just adding fees to their monthly budget and leaving them short next week is not the answer.”
Lauren Saunders, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
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