Cora Lewis

And this company was...

Helping her figure out month to month how to make her finances work is how they framed it to me.

I do, yeah.

The pattern that advocates have found is that while these are marketed as a way to make your life more stable, to be used maybe once or twice a year, what ends up happening is people really rely on these products every month.

And so those subscription fees and that 1% of rent every month really adds up.

It's hitting people who are already really strained and it becomes...

an additional strain on their finances.

In some ways, it shows that a lot of people have already overextended themselves on credit cards and are turning to these products and companies.

I think it is a sign of the affordability crisis.

These companies exist in the space between that unaffordability and people's

Cora Lewis is a business reporter at the Associated Press.

Thanks so much for having me.