NBC News, August 20, 2012 Monday

NBC News

August 20, 2012 Monday

NBC News (full article)

Wal-Mart Stores extends holiday layaway program

During and after the recession, layaway experienced a renaissance of sorts, with retailers like Sears promoting it as an alternative for customers who couldn’t or didn’t want to put holiday purchases on credit cards. The practice hasn’t been without controversy, though. In an Op-Ed article in the New York Times last year, Cornell University history professor Louis Hyman argued that layaway was a “bad deal for everyone — except Wal-Mart.” Hyman said that the fees combined with the short repayment period added up to the equivalent of a predatory APR.