22 PCWorld JANUARY 2022NEWS
IMAGE: MICROSOFTMicrosoft Edge’s new buy now, pay
later tool has users fuming
Does a web browser need a financing service baked in? BY MICHAEL CRIDERM
icrosoft has been working
diligently to make Edge a more
viable alternative to the likes of
Firefox and Chrome, going so
far as to completely rewrite it based on
Chromium code. The company is also looking
to differentiate its official browser by loading it
with helpful tools for online shoppers (fave.
co/3EXSXQL)—a strategy that could prove
lucrative as well. While most of these choices
have been met with approval, the latest one is
getting some scorn: a new built-in tool for the
Zip financing service (fave.co/3m6gTdc).
Zip is one of a crop of new buy now, pay
later services that break small- andmedium-size purchases into more
manageable chunks, eschewing conventional
interest payments for low flat fees ($1 per
payment, $4 maximum). It competes with the
likes of Klarna, Splitit, and various other
installment options from more established
companies like PayPal. As an alternative to
older rent-to-own or layaway setups, it can
make sense for cash-strapped buyers, though
those $1 fees are proportionally larger on
smaller purchases.
But why Microsoft chose to include a
branded financing tool in Edge, and why
Zip in particular, isn’t very clear. The feature
was announced in mid-November—just in