The financial constraint has been a stark reality. People have lost jobs or half of their pay during the pandemic. This has resulted in people thinking twice(or more) before they spend. The way people shop has also changed. They now prefer to shop online to avoid exposure to the deadly virus or for their ease.

The change in spending behavior has made retailers and financial institutions look for new ways to engage people to spend. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is one such innovative way that has become popular with the increase in online shopping since 2020.

What is buy now, pay later? Is it different from a credit card?

Buy Now, Pay Later or BNPL is a payment plan for people who want to make a purchase but do not have enough funds to make complete payments outright but are willing to pay in installments. It is a sort of unsecured loan where the lending happens without collateral. Young and middle-aged shoppers are more inclined to use BNPL financing plans. While young shoppers have less credit, while middle age shoppers are wedged by the attractive thought of paying in installments.

Both BNPL and credit card payment plans involve overdue payments. But, how is it different from a credit card? BNPL plans allow the customers to purchase by paying in installments. Unlike a credit card, BNPL plans do not charge any interest or fees.

With a credit card, customers can only purchase according to their credit limit and are required to make minimum due payments. The interest needs to be paid on the rest of the amount till the entire amount is paid off. However, it rewards the consumers in the form of points, cashback, or miles.

Should we buy now or pay later?

Many people have fewer funds or do not have credit cards, and want to opt for an interest-free payment option to make a purchase. Big retailers such as Affirm, Amazon, AfterPay, Flipkart, and Paytm are aiming for such people with BNPL plans. These providers offer a BNPL scheme at the point of sales with interest-free payments.

It is easier to set up and consumers can also opt for automatic payments. Anyone can apply for a BNPL plan without passing a hard credit inquiry. Even the consumers who do not have a decent financial profile can qualify for the BNPL scheme.

The downside of Buy now, pay later

The scheme of paying later in installments is alluring many people across the globe. It encourages consumers to buy more products and overstrain their finances. This scheme also attracts the people who are already in debt, cannot afford to buy items, and are struggling to pay off existing bills and is not a good option for them.

BNPL companies do not charge interest but they do charge late fees in case of missed or late payment. Also, the credit history of a consumer gets affected if the company reports the late or missed payment to the credit bureau.

Consumers should read the terms and conditions before making a purchase. In case the product is damaged, the BNPL companies do not provide the dispute protections like credit cards, and returning the products can be a hassle. Unlike credit cards, there are no rewards like points or cashback.

To conclude, the idea behind the BNPL financing scheme is that people can buy the things they need and get some added time to pay off completely within the payment schedule. This may seem appealing, but it is important to plan to budget and understand the terms and conditions of making the payment.

 Understanding Omicron’s Impact

Even though the Omicron variant appears to cause less severe illness and require fewer hospitalizations, it is far more contagious. It seems this variant of the virus is doing less damage to the healthcare system as compared to the prior variants like Delta. There are still chances that it may overwhelm hospitals because of the high infection rate.

The pandemic had done enough damage to the world’s economy. Some countries are again tightening the restrictions by closing their border and through the lockdown. Others still are taking the risk to keep everything open in limited. Many schools which were opened are again going back to online learning. The travel and tourism industry is again getting severely affected and many flights, hotels, and restaurants bookings have been canceled. Many events have either been postponed or canceled due to a surge in the covid cases.

 The Penultimate Scenario

Before the third wave hit, to normalize things, the supply chain tailback and higher demand caused prices to go beyond the expected for a few products. Inflation was at an all-time high. With the wave spreading its tide, the transport industry got badly affected due to supply chain delays. Many factories and distribution centers had to shut down. The world faces a shortage of laborers with people falling sick, or not comfortable coming back to work, or due to the mandatory quarantine rules. Though given the less severity, many countries are easing the quarantine rule. They have cut down the isolation period to 5 days for asymptomatic cases so that businesses can run and it doesn’t upset their economy.

The global computer chip shortage is still prevailing. Small firms and businesses are again struggling as there is continued demand for specific products like masks and sanitizers. In developed countries, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits has increased drastically. Many people are still unemployed or meagerly paid, hence, spending less.

 Hoping for the Best

Some economists believe that Omicron has not yet affected many countries that are involved in the global supply chain. If that happens there might be more disruption in the second quarter as well. On the other hand, few others believe that even though it is too early to call ‘endemic’ with this new variant, there may be other variants that will keep coming up. However, they say, with the roll-out of more vaccines and as a greater number of people get vaccinated, the nature of the virus will weaken over time and there seems to be a ray of hope to bring the global economy back on track.

Since this variant ‘Omicron’ is new it is too soon to judge its impact on the global economy. Prior variants have already shattered the world’s economy and the stock market. Some experts believe that Omicron may only cause interim disruption as the recovery is likely to continue, but Omicron may slow down its pace. Countries should take calculated risks and people should plan their investments. With the new virus variant, the economic rebound is difficult in the first quarter of 2022. However, some policymakers believe that even after so much disruption, the global economy will recover gradually.

Now, what exactly is a metaverse?

If you are a fan of Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and have had a brush with games like Mine Craft, Second Life, or Fortnite, you have had a close call with the metaverse. Metaverse, to put it very simply, is a virtual environment or a virtual world powered by the internet and rendered in 3D. Unlike AR/VR, you don’t just view this world on a screen but can live in it and be a part of it. It’s a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities giving opportunities for people to meet, work, and play. All you need is virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps, and/or specified devices.

The Technology powering Metaverse

Speaking of technology, what do you need to get going with the metaverse? On the Hardware front, one needs general-purpose computers and smartphones which can support AR, mixed reality, VR, and virtual world technologies. The current hardware available is all limited by one factor or the other. Some lack portability, some are too costly for widespread use, while still others lack the high-quality graphics required for a real-life-like experience. So companies are focused on overcoming the limitations of VR headsets, sensors, and increasing immersion with haptic technology.

On the software front, there is no wide-scale standardized technical specification for metaverse implementations. The existing ones are primarily proprietary technology. Interoperability is a foremost concern in metaverse development. This has led to several efforts being made at standardizing the virtual environment. Universal Scene Description(USD), created by Pixar and supported by Blender, Apple’s Scenekit, and Autodesk 3ds Max will be used by NVIDIA for their metaverse development tools. OpenXR has been adopted by Microsoft for HoloLens 2 and Meta Platforms for the Oculus Quest.

What does the Metaverse offer currently?

The metaverse right now is in an elementary stage with building blocks or virtual worlds being created by individual firms, waiting for better interoperability or unification. So one can help you attend virtual concerts, other can help you live a virtual life using a digital avatar. Remote work and online shopping can also get a makeover with the metaverse.

The Concerns

Even before its realization, the concept of the metaverse is raising concerns over how individuality, information, and privacy will be defended in the virtual world. Companies are already collecting user information through interactions raising questions over how they are to be utilized. User addiction and problematic social media use are concerns too. Internet addiction disorder and video game addiction can have a long-term impact on mental and physical health. Social media and the internet are already being blamed for the rise in depression, anxiety, and lifestyle diseases. Experts are concerned that metaverses could emerge as places where users would like to ‘escape’ from reality.

What to expect?

Tech companies have still not found a way to connect their individual platforms. Standardization of equipment and technology is a major roadblock in creating a unified metaverse. So what we have right now are chunks of the virtual world that will one day be the metaverse. While the tech companies frantically try to create that one metaverse, users can patiently wait and play a game or two in a virtual world of their liking.