“Buy Now, Pay Later services do not affect a consumer's credit score.”

“Unlike traditional installment loans that involve credit checks, interest charges, and bureau reporting, these products rely on soft underwriting and do not appear on credit reports. This structure has fueled accessibility but also created measurement challenges for regulators.”

“The main credit bureaus, Experian™, Equifax ® and TransUnion ® include BNPL activity on their credit reports when reported. If they do report it, then your payment history could be reflected in your credit score. For example, if you make your payments on time, you could have a positive impact to your score. On the other hand, missed payments could have a negative impact on your score.”

“Fico, the credit scoring company used by most US lenders, announced on 23 June that they would include BNPL loans, which play “an increasingly important role in consumers' financial lives”, to help lenders more “accurately evaluate credit readiness”.”

“The regulations published today will implement that law by: ... Requiring lenders to make clear to New Yorkers if loans will be reported to credit reporting agencies; Establishing rules for timely resolution of consumer disputes; and; Protecting consumer data from misuse or exploitation.”

“"Buy now, pay later" loans have largely stayed out of credit scores... these loans have largely remained out of credit scores... Affirm is the only major BNPL provider currently reporting that data to the credit bureaus. Officials with both Klarna and AfterPay are pumping the brakes... Afterpay and Klarna both say they will continue to hold off on supplying customer data to credit bureaus.”

“As of July 2025, Buy Now, Pay Later doesn't affect credit scores, but that will change this fall when FICO rolls out a new credit score model that factors in BNPL data. At that point, missing payments on a BNPL loan may make it more likely that your credit score will be penalized.”

“Negative Impact: Missed or late payments will now be reported and can lower your score, just like traditional credit card or loan defaults. Positive Impact: If you consistently repay BNPL loans on time, your score could improve—especially if you have a limited credit history.”

“Put simply, most BNPL activity does not impact credit scores today. ... Affirm is the only major BNPL provider that reports all loans in the U.S. to credit bureaus. ... This means that Affirm consumers' BNPL activity is not being factored into scores today, and is not visible to other lenders. In other words: Paying Affirm back on time or early doesn't raise your score today. Missing Affirm payments doesn't lower your credit score today.”

“The buy now, pay later company Affirm will begin reporting all BNPL transactions to the credit bureau Experian beginning April 1, but the firm is not the only industry player reporting its payment data to one of the three major credit rating bureaus.”

“FICO will begin incorporating buy now, pay later payment activity into credit scores, meaning on-time payments can help build credit while missed payments may hurt it. Financial experts say the change could benefit consumers with little credit history, including young adults, by giving them a way to establish a payment record.”

“Consumers with low FICO credit scores are significantly more likely to use BNPL than those with higher scores: 23 percent with credit scores ...”

“Generally, most Buy Now, Pay Later lenders don't report your payment history to the major credit reporting companies, but your failure to repay may be reported by a debt collector. Most BNPL products that let you pay off your loan in four interest-free payments don't report to the major credit reporting companies. That means that your credit scores won't be helped or hurt by your repayment behavior.”

“One of the significant benefits of BNPL is its potential to positively impact your credit score. When you make on-time payments on your BNPL, these payments are reported to credit bureaus, helping you build a positive credit history. ... It can also negatively impact it if payments are not made on time. Late or missed payments are reported to credit bureaus, which can harm your creditworthiness.”

“The rules would — among other things — establish a licensing regime for providers of short-term installment loans, prohibit excessive fees, compel companies to tell consumers if their loans will be reported to credit bureaus and require BNPL firms to establish timely rules for consumer disputes.”

“Many BNPL providers are currently not licensed, and so many BNPL products do not have payments reported. However, there are some BNPL providers who are licensed and are reporting repayments. Where a BNPL provider does a credit check this will show on your credit report, and this can impact your credit score.”

“As of early 2026, major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) have begun incorporating BNPL data into credit reports under new models like FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0, but only providers like Affirm report actively; most others like Klarna and Afterpay do not yet report payment history.”

“providers are pushing back on plans to include in your credit score... Affirm one of the big ones. They started doing that... these are often very short term loans... when you open multiple accounts in a relatively short period, typically your credit score goes down.”