{
  "id": 1566499,
  "title": "BNPL lenders like Flex, Zip, and Affirm are now pitching loans for basic household needs; Americans spent $160B through pay-later loans in 2025, up 2x from 2023 (Stacy Cowley/New York Times)",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/bnpl-lenders-like-flex-zip-and-affirm-are-now-pitching-loans-for",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-17T21:00:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Techmeme",
    "slug": "techmeme",
    "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/business/buy-now-pay-later.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The rapid growth of pay-later loans raises questions about whether their popularity is driven by consumer preference or desperation.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}