Jake and Spike: New DoorDash payment plan is a slippery slope, Ursula agrees

Klarna, the popular buy now, pay later service, has teamed up with DoorDash to introduce “flexible payment options for customers,” the company announced on its website Thursday.

DoorDash users will now be able to choose Klarna’s payment plans when purchasing groceries, retail items and annual plans. At checkout, customers will have the option to pay in full, split the cost into four interest-free installments or delay payment.

Jake and Spike: Payment plans and slippery slopes

Spike O’Neill from “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio talked about the partnership, saying the options will be dubious at best.

“It’s a slippery slope,” Spike said. “You shouldn’t be walking down to the burrito store if you can’t afford to buy the food you’re eating.”

Jake Skorheim, co-host of “Jake and Spike,” explained that while the app is very convenient, it will likely send you down an economic spiral when your next paycheck comes.

“This service is about convenience, but it’s convenient until your paycheck comes in and it’s already spent and now you’re hungry. And what do you do? You go get a payday loan yourself,” Jake said.

For the full discussion, listen below

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Ursula: Payments will cause more harm than good

Ursula, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, shared her thoughts on the new partnership during a recent episode. Although she said flexible payments can be helpful, they will likely cause more harm than good.

“Any financial expert would say this is not good for the vast majority of Americans because we just aren’t that disciplined. Some people are going to spend more than they intended to spend,” she said.

Gee Scott, co-host of “Gee and Ursula,” agreed with Ursula, highlighting that buy now, pay later services have suddenly become very popular in almost every industry.

“They’re disguising it now, right? And maybe you’re not going to do DoorDash, but if you are buying airplane tickets, you can now use flex pay, where you can start paying by the month. It’s almost on anything,” Gee said.

For the full discussion, listen below

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Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9am to 12am on KIRO Newsradio.