DoorDash users can now pay for food on the installment plan.
The food delivery service DoorDash said on Thursday it has partnered with financial service company Klarna to offer that company's payment plans, meaning someone ordering food for delivery could pay for it on an installment plan. Klarna will appear as a pament option when a DoorDash customer checks out, and they can choose to pay in full, to pay in four interest-free equal payments, or to defer payments to a later time.
"As we expand DoorDash's offerings -- from groceries and beauty to electronics and gifts -- flexible payment options are essential to meeting our customers' needs," Anand Subbarayan, Head of Money Products at DoorDash, said in a statement.
The statement says the Klarna option will appear "in the coming months."
DoorDash competitor GrubHub also uses Klarna as a payment option.
Dave Ramsey's reaction
Judging by online comments, not everyone welcomes the idea that people might be paying for DoorDash deliveries, on the installment plan.
Financial commentator and radio host Dave Ramsey posted a link to the news on X, and added a video clip showing Ramsey putting his head in his hands.
A person commenting on Ramsey's X post wrote, "The only person this would be aimed at is someone that says, 'Damn, I can't afford a $12 door dash. Ohhh! I can pay in installments?? I'm in!'"
However, Daniel Greaves, a representative for Klarna, told CNET that the two Klarna credit options -- everything other than the "pay in full" choice -- can only be used for purchases of $35 or more. So you're not actually going to be able to DoorDash a $1.79 Taco Bell taco and pay it off in 60-cent installments.
According to Greaves, 25% of DoorDash purchases are not meal deliveries, and this payment option is aimed at those purchasers.
He said that many people do use credit cards to pay for food deliveries.
"If you're going to do that, we think that there's a role for an interest-free credit option," he said.
