Buy now, pay never? Some Klarna users struggle to repay loans as U.S. consumer debt rises

I mean isn't this one obvious? Fees. There's a ~$4 fee for the basic 4 payments every 2 weeks plan. There are also numerous plans that span various amounts of months. THESE plans have APR up to 30%. Add in your 'I missed a payment, here's a fee" and it's basically just a credit card with more rules that requires ~1/4th payment upfront. They also treat each purchase as a separate loan, so you don't get the benefit of one single monthly payment against the whole balance- each loan must be individually paid - adding up to a lot more than a credit card with a similar balance. And then add in selling marketing data of what customers purchase. It's a simple and solid business structure.

As the other comment says, they're making their money back in fees. For every dollar they lose because of this, they're making multiple in fees. It really shows you how bad these services are for you financially if they're able to be profitable.

No, we are in 20y cycle