'BUY NOW, PAY LATER' (BNPL): THE RETURN OF LAYAWAY OR A DISRUPTOR FOR CREDIT CARDS INDUSTRY

Long back shopping at almost any U.S. retailer included the option to choose an item you were after and have it stashed away in some back room while you made incremental payments until the purchase price was covered and you could take it home.

- Alok Jaiswal

Those layaway plans mostly disappeared decades ago as credit cards arose as the go-to option for consumers to cover the cost of goods they couldn't quite afford in the moment. In-store financing also became a thing for many stores, particularly those offering high-ticket items like furniture and appliances.

Now, a tech-driven option that occupies a sort of middle ground between layaway and in-store financing is on the rise and, like the purchase plans that have come before, it could cost you.

Buy-now-pay-later isn't a fresh idea, but a growing number of tech platforms are finding success in partnering with retailers to offer portals for issuing credit at time of purchase that allows the consumer to check out, virtually or in-person, with their goodies after agreeing to an instalment plan. Some charge interest, some don't, and rescheduling a payment or paying late can also come with charges.

India is one of the world's largest markets when it comes to fintech Innovation and adoption.

Banking as we know of it has been always dynamic and prone to disruption. The advent of technology and ease of regulation have been action as catalyst for steering the Indian banking into new dimension. There are lot of new technology and products are being introduced that has potential to challenge tradition banking and make the age old bankers run for their money. Fintechs,block chain technology, data analytics are few of the new concepts that are in the main stream now. One of the new concepts that has been the talk of the banking arena for some time now and can pose a serious challenge to the bankers in the retails space is 'Buy Now, Pay Later' (BNPL) and fintechs are using it to accelerate their growth.

What is Buy Now Pay Later?