In what is surely a sign of the hyper-capitalist times we live in, overpriced food delivery app DoorDash has partnered with creepy payment processor Klarna so that, on the offhand chance you can’t afford to pay the full $30 price of the late-night Chipotle you ordered, you can pay for the meal in installments over a drawn-out period of time.
“Buy now, pay later” lender Klarna announced the new partnership in a press release published Thursday. According to the company, DoorDash customers will now have several different payment options when they go to buy a meal. Customers can “Pay in Full,” which means they pay for their food all at once, or they’ll be able to “Pay in 4,” which—just as it sounds—means they can pay in four different installments. Those installments will be interest-free, according to the press release. Customers will also be able to “defer payments to a more convenient time, such as a date that aligns with their paycheck schedules,” the press release states.
When reached for comment by Gizmodo, Klarna clarified that the “Pay Later” option (which includes the “more convenient time” option) will give customers a period of 30 days to pay without any resultant interest and fees. A spokesperson for DoorDash said that only the “Pay in Full” and “Pay in 4” options will be available when the service first launches, with “Pay Later” being launched at a later date.
“Our partnership with DoorDash marks an important milestone in Klarna’s expansion into everyday spending categories,” the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, David Sykes, said. “By offering smarter, more flexible payment solutions for groceries, takeout, and retail essentials, we’re making convenience even more accessible for millions of Americans.”
That’s probably not the bragging point Sykes thinks it is, as I don’t think it’s exactly comforting news that Americans now need deferred payment plans to afford “everyday spending categories.” It also seems to emphasize just how godawfully expensive food delivery apps like DoorDash are.
Indeed, I’d argue that using DoorDash on any sort of regular basis is financially ill-advised unless you have a trust fund. When you add up the price of food, tax, tip, and the app’s fees, you often end up paying substantially more than if you’d picked the meal up in person or dined in. Paying for the over-priced meals in installments may make consumers’ lives easier in the short term, but that load will surely catch up to them in the long run. Much ink has already been spilled on why the deferred payments industry is basically a fast track to debt.
It’s another big move for Klarna which, the Financial Times reported this week, is also readying an IPO for April. CNBC reports that the company upped its revenue by 24 percent last year, climbing to $2.8 billion.
