Viral Nana Mirdad Terrorized by Debt Collector, Here's the Risk of Paylater and Online Loans and Tips to Avoid Them

Nana Mirdad is upset because even though she has paid off the bill along with the fine, the harassment does not stop. In fact, she was charged a fine of Rp50 thousand for one day of delay—a figure she considers very high."I just found out that this is considered a legal online loan. Because of that, they have access to BI data and can influence our credit scores," she wrote. Nana also expressed her disappointment because she has always felt she had a clean credit record through her credit card.

Paylater services are becoming increasingly popular because they offer transaction convenience without having to pay immediately. This paylater transaction is actually different from online loans, as it is not directly supervised by the OJK.

Online loans (pinjol) are financial services for borrowing funds. Meanwhile, paylater is a payment method that allows users to purchase goods or services immediately but pay for them later.

However, both online loans and paylater services impose high-interest rates. This is what users, like Nana Mirdad, need to be wary of. Once a delay occurs, the interest set by the paylater provider can be very high. Another risk is pressure from debt collectors and the impact on credit scores, as experienced by Nana.

So what are the tips to avoid getting trapped in online loans and paylater services? First, use them only as needed. Second, understand the terms and conditions before agreeing to use paylater.

Equally important tips include noting and remembering due dates to avoid penalties and harassment from debt collectors. If possible, always pay early before the due date. Additionally, be cautious about the data access requested by service providers, and limit the amount of access requested to keep your data safer.

Sometimes users choose to pay via paylater because there are many discount promotions offered. Learning from Nana's case, it's best for KLovers to be cautious before deciding to transact using paylater, okay.