The value judgement is because they target the people that can't afford it by making them think they can. This kind of scheme works fine if you're good at mana

The value judgement is because they target the people that can't afford it by making them think they can. This kind of scheme works fine if you're good at managing finances. You can plan ahead and set the money for the repayments aside. Though if you are good at it, I wouldn't see why you'd bother. Unfortunately, the kind of people that need this kind of scheme to buy stuff, are generally really bad at managing their finances. Otherwise they would have had buffer savings and could buy the thing just out of pocket. In the end it brings them only deeper into the debt hole. The only thing I'd take a loan (mortgage) for is a house, personally. Even my cars I paid all in cash (my most expensive one was a 2200 euro Volvo and it served me well for many years :) Personally I think ethically it's similar to the tobacco industry. They're exploiting a weakness of some people. Sure, they could resist it but some people are just not capable of doing so.