NatWest is to join the booming but controversial “buy now, pay later” market this summer, becoming the first UK high street bank to announce a move into the multibillion-pound sector.
The bank is still majority taxpayer-owned – though only just, as the government stake is now about 51% – after a state bailout during the financial crisis. Its 18 million-plus customers may be surprised to learn it is to offer this form of unregulated credit, which lets people delay payment for items ranging from clothes to pet food.
