Microsoft Edge buy now pay later scheme met with criticism

Microsoft is under fire from angry users after announcing plans for a built-in "buy now pay later" function in its Edge web browser.

Such schemes let buyers divide payments into smaller chunks over time - but have been criticised for their risk of users getting into debt.

Microsoft has added one provider to the checkout page of shopping sites as a default payment option.

But users have accused Microsoft of greed and a "cashgrab" mentality.

Thanks to a user-based tagging system, those accusations have been turned into tags on the official announcement.

As a result, Microsoft's blog post now features tags such as "poor leadership", "exploitative", "garbage" and an "embarrassment".

Microsoft says it "does not collect a fee for connecting users to loan providers" and it is not clear what benefit the company is receiving from the deal struck with payment provider Zip.

Users, however, accused Microsoft of trying to make money.

"Please stop bloating the browser with these revenue grabs," one commenter wrote. "It's like you're recapitulating the worst [Internet Explorer] browser extensions from the 90s/00s and installing them by default."

:story: BBC News