Raphael Stevens

Shoppers can use “buy now, pay later” on nearly every purchase, from ordering in to a night out on the town.
However, installment payments could come with a catch.

Why pay now when you can pay later?
Whether it’s holiday gifts or groceries, it’s easier than ever to postpone payments on purchases.

“Buy now, pay later,” or BNPL, lets shoppers break their purchases into equal installment payments, often interest-free, which can make even the biggest-ticket items seem affordable and the smallest purchases seem almost negligible. It’s similar to old-school layaway plans, except consumers get the product up front and pay for it in incremental amounts.
As installment payments gain momentum along with a surge in online shopping, in general, in the wake of the Covid pandemic, about one-third of shoppers have already financed purchases this way and among those consumers, nearly two-thirds have done so five or more times, according to a recent survey by LendingTree.  

Providers such as Afterpay, Affirm, Klarna, Sezzle and Zip are paving the way and big companies are also jumping on the bandwagon ahead of the holidays, with PayPal starting its own product, Amazon and Apple partnering up with Affirm and Target’s recent team-up with Sezzle.
While spreading out the cost of a big-ticket purchase like a Peloton often makes financial sense, especially at 0%, this type of financing is increasingly popular for small items, too.  
“Our core was really smaller, everyday type purchases,” said Sezzle’s CEO, Charlie Youakim. With Target, Sezzle will get to test out installment purchases for food and other categories, he added, “to see how broad this can be.”

These days, most consumers will see a buy now, pay later option when shopping online at retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon, but many BNPL providers are now introducing browser extensions, as well, which you can download and apply to any online purchase. Then there are also the apps, which let you use installment payments when buying things in-person, too — just like you would use Apple Pay.
That means shoppers can tap a short-term loan to buy just about anything, anywhere.

Buyer beware

One potential downside is that installment buying could encourage consumers to spend more than they can afford. A report by one consumer advocacy group in the U.K. found that almost a quarter of installment users spent more than they initially intended to because the service was available.
According to LendingTree, nearly half of shoppers said they wouldn’t have made the same purchase if they didn’t have the option to finance.
More from Personal Finance:How to avoid holiday debtA budget is the first step to financial wellnessHow to tackle holiday gift buying with fewer deals
Sezzle’s Youakim argues that the same is true of credit cards and, in fact, BNPL has some of the benefits of credit, as well, such as being able to spread out payments but without revolving debt. “You can think of this like ‘creditizing’ a debit card,” he said.
On the flipside, most BNPL lenders don’t report your on-time payments to the credit reporting companies, as credit cards do, which means you may be forgoing the chance to build positive credit — while failure to pay could ding your credit score.
“If you are trying to build a good credit history or improve your credit history, most of the buy now, pay later programs won’t do you much good,” said Julie Ramhold, a consumer analyst with DealNews.com.

Anytime it gets too easy for too many people, that’s when you have to be careful.

Matt Schulz
LendingTree’s chief industry analyst

For consumers, there’s always a catch, according to Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at LendingTree.
“It’s just another case of retailers and lenders making it as easy as possible for people to spend and anytime it gets too easy for too many people, that’s when you have to be careful.”
Miss a payment and there could be late fees, deferred interest or other penalties, depending on the lender. Afterpay, for example, charges a late fee up to $8, in line with other providers. (CNBC’s Select has a full roundup of fees, APRs, whether a credit check is performed and if the provider reports to the credit scoring companies.)
Further, “if you have a half dozen of these open in a short amount of time, that can be complicated to manage,” Schulz added.  
Since these loans often require repayment every two weeks, rather than once a month, it’s even easier to get tripped up, he said.
In fact, about 7 in 10 buy now, pay later users have been charged interest or fees for missed payments, LendingTree found.
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Caroline Nicolls receives an injection of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine administered by nurse Amy Nash at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, England, on April 13, 2021.
Steve Parsons | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON — Months of data from the U.K.’s inoculation program have given deeper insight into how effective vaccines are against Covid-19.
The situation is looking bad once again in Britain, but a closer look reveals that it could be lot worse without the vaccines.

The latest government figures show that hospitalizations are rising. In the week ending Oct. 17, 6,315 people were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 — an increase of 15% from a week earlier.
But of the people admitted to hospital between Sept. 13 and Oct. 10, the vast majority were unvaccinated. Hospitalization rates were more than twice as high in unvaccinated people across all age groups, compared to those who had received two doses of a vaccine.

The chart below also shows that the link between cases and admissions has become much more detached since earlier on in the pandemic.   

Deaths from the virus are also increasing in the U.K. In the seven days ending Oct. 21, 912 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid, up 10% from the previous week.
The risk of dying from Covid was also much higher among the unvaccinated population, official data on the spread of the virus in England shows.

For every 100,000 unvaccinated people between the age of 60 and 69 in England, 20 passed away after contracting the virus. Among vaccinated people of the same age group, that number dropped to 4 per 100,000. In people aged 70 to 79, 47 in every 100,000 unvaccinated people died after catching Covid, and in over-80s the rate of death among the unvaccinated was 128 per 100,000.
In people aged 18 to 40, 48 deaths from the virus were recorded. Of those, 34 — or 71% — were unvaccinated.
The chart below also shows a decoupling between cases and deaths, when compared with the January peak.  

Over the summer, as the weather warmed and vaccine uptake took off, both deaths and hospitalizations from Covid fell dramatically in the U.K. Deaths hovered below 10 per day for many days in May and June, with a low of 80 daily hospitalizations recorded on May 16.
To date, 86% of people over the age of 12 have been vaccinated against Covid, with 79% having received two doses. In England, more than 4.2 million people to date have also received a booster shot, with evidence showing that the effects of a shot do wane over time.
Despite government assurances that there is a high level of immunity within the population, doctors are warning that the U.K. is walking into a crisis. There are also concerns about a new mutation of the delta variant circulating in the country, which is being studied by British health officials.
The government has rejected calls for the immediate reintroduction of some restrictions, such as mask mandates, which has been criticized as “wilful negligence” by the British Medical Association.
On Wednesday, U.K. Health Minister Sajid Javid warned that Covid cases could reach 100,000 a day heading into the winter.

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The company said it now expects to report net sales of $106 million for the quarter, down from its prior forecast of $120 million to $140 million.
Beyond said that a number of factors hurt its revenue for the quarter, including the delta variant and severe weather.

Beyond Meat “Beyond Burger” patties made from plant-based substitutes for meat products sit on a shelf for sale on November 15, 2019 in New York City.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images

Shares of Beyond Meat tumbled more than 14% in premarket trading Friday after the company warned it expects to report lower revenue for the third quarter than previously forecast.
Beyond said it expects net sales of $106 million, below its prior outlook of $120 million to $140 million. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were anticipating revenue of $133.1 million for the quarter. The company did not release an outlook for its quarterly earnings, but analysts were expecting a loss of 29 cents per share ahead of Friday’s announcement.

The company said multiple factors caused the lag in sales, including the impact of the Covid-19 delta variant. Beyond said a Canadian distributor decreased retail orders for longer than expected as its restaurants reopened, and it had expected incremental orders that didn’t materialize after one of its large customers changed distributors. Labor shortages also likely delayed distribution expansion and shelf resets, the company said.
Operational challenges also hurt its results. A Pennsylvania facility lost potable water for two weeks and another suffered water damage to inventory after severe weather, Beyond said.
Beyond did share one bright spot for sales during the quarter: an international customer accelerated orders. The company did not disclose the customer’s name.
Beyond’s initial forecast for its third-quarter revenue disappointed investors when the company released it in early August. After soaring grocery sales last year during lockdowns, demand has fallen. At the same time, food service orders haven’t rebounded completely yet, even as restaurants operate at full capacity. Executives said last quarter that many eateries were being more conservative with their orders because they were unsure of the impact of the delta variant on business.
Beyond is expected to report its full third-quarter results after the bell Nov. 10.
The stock has fallen 13% this year, giving it a market value of $6.87 billion.

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U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNBC on Friday that Covid booster shots from Moderna, J&J and Pfizer are all safe and effective.
“If you’ve gotten Pfizer or Moderna and if you did well with your primary series, I think it’s quite reasonable to stick with what you’ve got originally,” he said.
“The good news is that for Johnson & Johnson, you’ve got good options now available,” he added.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNBC on Friday that Americans should consider their primary vaccine series when deciding on a booster, noting that all three available are safe and effective.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday approved the distribution of booster doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine for adults most at risk, six months after their second shots and Johnson & Johnson boosters for all those 18 and over who received the initial shot at least two months ago.

The agency also cleared mix-and-match booster shots, leaving it up to doctors to decide which booster dose would be most beneficial to patients. The CDC last month approved booster shots of Pfizer’s vaccine for Americans most at risk, six months out from their second shots.
“If you’ve gotten Pfizer or Moderna and if you did well with your primary series, I think it’s quite reasonable to stick with what you’ve got originally,” Murthy said in a “Squawk Box” interview.
“The good news is that for Johnson & Johnson, you’ve got good options now available,” he said. “The data show that folks who got Johnson & Johnson and got boosted with Moderna or with Pfizer had a really strong antibody response.” Data also showed a strong immune response from a J&J booster dose, he also noted.
“We have good options now, we have flexibility in terms of which vaccines you get, and the boosters will extend and enhance peoples’ protection,” Murthy said. “So if you’re eligible, I would urge people to go out there and get that booster shot.”
The CDC is continuing to evaluate whether or not to require a booster dose of an approved Covid vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated, according to Murthy. “They may change that over time,” he said. “If that does change, then a booster may be part of the requirement, but for now, a booster is not part of what’s required to be fully vaccinated.”

Pfizer, whose vaccine is similar to Moderna’s, said internal data showed that a booster dose of its vaccine restored protection against severe disease from Covid back to more than 95%. J&J said a booster dose of its vaccine boosted antibody levels 12-fold if given six months after the initial dose.
Currently, more than 11 million booster doses have been administered in the U.S., according to CDC data. More than 9 million of the booster doses administered were from Pfizer after approval in late September.

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Shapewear maker Spanx is pushing into other categories of apparel — including denim — in hopes of making all clothing more comfortable for women.
The company is also looking to grow its direct-to-consumer business, which today makes up about 70% of revenue.
Blackstone said Wednesday it was taking a majority stake in Spanx, valuing the business at $1.2 billion.

Spanx is famous for its form-fitting shapewear. But according to founder Sara Blakely, it’s making a huge push into other categories of apparel — including denim — in hopes of making all clothing more comfortable for women.
The business, founded in the late 1990s, is also positioned to keep expanding its direct-to-consumer arm, lessening its reliance on discount retailers and other wholesale partners, such as department stores. Direct-to-consumer sales are typically more profitable. This also means Spanx has formed closer relationships with its customers.

According to Blackstone, those were two key reasons why the investment firm decided to take a majority stake in Spanx. That investment, announced Wednesday, values Spanx at $1.2 billion. 
“There aren’t very many brands that have been able to successfully make that transition,” Ann Chung, Blackstone’s global head of its consumer division, said in an interview Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“What we really saw was that the consumer was following the company and the brand … whether they were putting shapewear out, or leggings out, or jeans out, and they were following all the products and being very loyal,” Chung said.
About 70% of Spanx’s sales are from direct-to-consumer channels, according to Blakely. Spanx used to depend on department stores and other wholesale partners. But in recent years, it has invested more into its own website. That’s a similar shift that major consumer brands — including Nike, Coach and Levi Strauss — have been making to build tighter relationships with customers and keep more money from each transaction.
The deal is Blackstone’s latest move to back women-run businesses. It follows investments in Whitney Wolfe Herd’s Bumble and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media conglomerate.

Founder of Spanx Sara Blakely.
Paul Morigi | Getty Images

Blakely launched Spanx in 1998 with just $5,000 in her pocket, which she had earned from selling fax machines. Her vision at the time was to create a product for women to wear under clothing, that helped them feel more comfortable. She chopped the legs off a pair of control-top pantyhose to create her prototype. The resulting product was an immediate hit with women.
Spanx has since expanded its assortment to include activewear, denim and even men’s shapewear. According to Blakely, product innovation will continue to be a priority.
“We kind of defined a category and revolutionized it, and we’re now doing that in apparel and active,” she told CNBC. “Our consumers have been saying, ‘Put the magic of Spanx in the clothing that I’m wearing.'”
As more women seek out comfortable pieces to add to their wardrobes, the shapewear space has grown even more competitive. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West has a brand called Skims, which was recently valued at $1.6 billion. HanesBrands has expanded to shapewear through its Bali and Maidenform brands.
“A lot of people go into this category and quickly exit it after about two years, because shapewear is really easy to make, and really hard to get right,” Blakely said.
When the deal with Blackstone closes, Blakely will maintain a significant stake in the company and continue to oversee operations. She will transition to serve as executive chairwoman.

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The actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop firearm on a movie set, killing the film’s director of photography and injuring its director, police said.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and Joel Souza, 48, was injured on the set of “Rust,” a Western being filmed at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe, New Mexico.
The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation. No charges have been filed in regard to the incident.

Alec Baldwin on Oct 7, 2021 at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Mark Sagliocco | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a movie set Thursday, killing the film’s director of photography and injuring its director, police said.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and Joel Souza, 48, was injured on the set of “Rust,” a Western being filmed at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe, New Mexico, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office.

Hutchins was transported via helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Souza was brought to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center to undergo treatment for his injuries.
The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation. No charges have been filed.
“We received the devastating news this evening, that one of our members, Halyna Hutchins, the Director of Photography on a production called ‘Rust’ in New Mexico died from injuries sustained on the set,” said John Lindley, the president of the International Cinematographers Guild, and Rebecca Rhine, the executive director, in a statement to Variety.
“The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event,” the statement read. “This is a terrible loss, and we mourn the passing of a member of our Guild’s family.”

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (L), and Director Joel Souza (R). Halyna was accidentally shot and killed with a prop gun on set while Souza sustained injuries.
Getty Images

Hutchins graduated from the American Film Institute in 2015. She was involved in several short films before working on “Archenemy,” a 2020 feature film starring Joe Manganiello.

Originally from Ukraine, she held a graduate degree in international journalism from Kyiv National University and previously worked as an investigative journalist with British documentary productions in Europe.
In 2019, she was selected as one of American Cinematographer’s rising stars.
Hutchins’ death echoes that of actor Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts movie legend Bruce Lee. Brandon Lee died after he was shot by a round from a prop gun while filming for the movie “The Crow” in 1993.
“There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” a spokesperson for Baldwin said in a statement to NBC News. “Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority.”
Baldwin, 63, is a co-producer on “Rust” and plays infamous outlaw Harland Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental killing. Rust travels to Kansas to break his grandson out of prison and the two fugitives must outrun U.S. Marshal Wood Helm and bounty-hunter Fenton “Preacher” Lang.
Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin posted an photo of himself on Instagram in costume for the film, complete with what appeared to be fake blood on his shirt.
Recently known for portraying President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” and starring in the NBC comedy “30 Rock,” Baldwin has won multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards and been nominated for an Academy Award and a Tony Award.
Baldwin has hosted “SNL” 17 times, more than any other person, and starred in films like “The Departed,” “Glengarry Glen Ross” and the “Mission Impossible” franchise. He was also the producer on director Souza’s film “Crown Vic.”
Baldwin has a history of losing his temper, which has included incidents leading to his arrest. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to harassment of another person in connection to a dispute over a parking spot in Manhattan in Nov. 2018. He agreed to undergo anger management counseling in that case.
Before that, police arrested him for riding his bicycle the wrong way, and for disorderly conduct after he allegedly became belligerent with the cops who stopped him.
Baldwin was also acquitted of misdemeanor battery charges after being accused of punching a freelance photographer in California in 1995, breaking the lensman’s nose.
The actor is married to Hilaria Baldwin, and they have six children together. He also has a daughter named Ireland from his previous marriage to actress Kim Basinger.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

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