From June 2025 Klarna lands on Google Pay In the United States, allowing users to expand in four installments to zero interests each purchase greater than 35 dollars (about 8 euros per month). At the same time, by the end of the year Paypal will introduce a NFC contactless wallet with options to 24 months in Europe. The arrival in Italy immediately after Germany is expected.
These solutions, called “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL), revolutionize the shopping in the shop, offering on the one hand greater flexibility and immediate access to the goods, but also push fixed monthly outputs which, added to a mortgage, bills and various subscriptions, can burden the family budget until they compromise it.
Klarna in installments in the shop, the situation in the USA
The partnership between Klarna and Google inaugurates a new era of digital payments in the United States. From June 2025 Google Pay users can choose “Pay in 4” for divide purchases higher than $ 35 in four monthly rate at zero rate, a formula that brings the installment to around 8 euros per month.
With over 85 million active consumers and 600,000 partner stores, Klarna thus enriches the Google ecosystem, already used by 25 million users in the USA. The integration does not stop at the checkout, in fact, through the Klarna app, shipments, returns and reimbursement plans are managed, transforming the traditional digital wallet into a real complete financial hub.
Paypal will also arrive in Italy
By the end of 2025 Italy should also benefit from the new Paypal contactless portfolio, already in Roll-Out in Germany and other European markets. Available on the latest version of the app for Android and iOS, the service uses the NFC chip and the Mastercard circuit to allow quick and safe payments in the authorized physical stores.
Users will be able to choose to Dilation every expense in 3, 6, 12 or 24 months: The first three installments will be at zero rate, while interests may apply on the largest planes.
What awaits us in the future?
The concept of private property, cornerstone of our social and economic life for centuries, is now questioned by the digitization of every aspect of daily life. With the advent of the internet, more and more objects and services, from vocal assistants to intelligent refrigerators, from e-books to connected cars, remain only formally in the hands of consumers, while in substance remain “by subscription” to companies that control licenses, updates and even activation.
This step is not a simple paradigm changeit means that possession becomes a right of access that can be revoked remotely, with concrete risks of surveillance, interruption of service or manipulation by manufacturers or changes of company ownership, criminals in the event of IT attacks or even adverse state authorities.
While the market moves more and more towards rental and subscription models, the “analog” alternatives risk disappearing or remaining confined to niches. Future generations will grow accustomed to not having full sense in a full sense every day, entrusting their freedom and privacy to platforms and digital contracts. In this scenario, the real knot will be redefine rightsthe guarantees and protections for those who “access” but never have the objects you buy and use.
What are the risks
Payment in installments also, while offering flexibility and the possibility of divide the outlay without interest If welded in terms, hides pitfalls that can translate into real financial traps. The absence of initial costs and the ease of use make the BNPL extremely attractive, but the accumulation of multiple dialing plans, for electronic purchases, season tickets, food or holidays, can quickly bring to over -indebtednessespecially in the absence of financial literacy as in Italy.
Already in 2022 a Crif analysis showed how the insolvency rate BNPL contracts has doubled compared to the previous year, highlighting a criticality that concerns in particular the youngest consumers, inclined to delay also content amounts without fully evaluating the overall commitment. Added to this is the lack of a true evaluation of the credit merit: unlike traditional loans, the BNPL does not require a thorough analysis of the guarantees or income of the user, often relying on simplified artificial intelligence algorithms and surface checks.
A further risk factor is the weakness of legal protections: BNPL contracts can provide for automatic renewals, penalties for delays not always clearly communicated and clauses that limit the possibilities of dispute. In the long term, the impact on the credit history It can be translated into difficulty in accessing more structured financial instruments, as well as in an increase in overall costs if interest rates are applied to the longest dilations.
In the absence of a solid financial education, the combination of these critical issues, ease of access to credit, growing insolvency rates, simplified merit assessments and limited legal protections, can transform what appears as a comfortable monthly installment into a dangerous chain debt.
