this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
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Microtransactions reach new level of hell once thought impossible with buy now, pay later options: "Interest-free biweekly payments or longer-term monthly installments" (www.gamesradar.com)
submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 69 points 1 day ago (2 children)

“Click here to finance your addiction.”

HOW IS THIS LEGAL?!

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 day ago

Corruption.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

For the free (no-interest) versions, it's a bullshit legal loophole in the US credit laws, or at least it was a few years ago. May have been more strongly codified since, though I bet almost nobody who could close it realizes the gap is there. The whole scheme is out of Australia, but I have no idea what their legal setup is.

The US requirements are basically:

  • You can't charge fees to host the plan
  • You can't charge % late fees, only fixed
  • You can't have more than 4 installments, meaning no more than 5 payments if you include an optional down payment
  • You must not deny customers for means-based items, or using credit data. You can give them an effectively meaningless approval value though.

You as a customer pay late fees if you miss a payment, but they make most of their money by charging the merchant a higher transaction fee. So, it's theoretically free for the customer, meaning it can fit into the loophole. Legally it isn't a credit product.

The TL;DR is "because the law is full of holes and bullshit, and if it's making people money then it's not likely to change"