You split another checkout into four payments, tapped approve, and moved on. That habit used to be invisible to your credit score no matter how many apps you used. Not anymore. New scoring models built specifically for buy now pay later loans are rolling out at the credit bureaus in 2026, and nearly 130 million Americans who use these apps are about to find out what that means for their credit. Here is what actually changed, which apps are affected, and how to keep your score moving in the right direction.
What Changed With Buy Now Pay Later and Your Credit Score
For years, buy now pay later loans lived outside the traditional credit system. You could carry six open installment plans across six different apps, and your credit report would show none of it, unless a payment went to collections. That gap is closing. FICO built two new scoring models, FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL, designed to read buy now pay later activity the way it actually behaves, rather than forcing it into a scoring formula built decades ago for credit cards and traditional installment loans.
Affirm was the first major provider to act on this shift, and began reporting payment data to Experian in April 2025, with TransUnion following. Roughly 130 million people took out at least one buy now pay later loan in the past year, and the typical borrower takes out more than nine of them annually, often running several at the same time. Once bureau-scale data is available, these new scores become the first national credit scores to count a well-managed buy now pay later habit as a genuine credit strength instead of a blind spot.
If you have been carrying buy now pay later debt alongside other balances without a system to track it, now is a good time to take stock of the full picture rather than one loan at a time. Our breakdown of what buy now pay later debt actually costs once it stacks up across apps walks through how to list every open loan in one place before the new scoring changes give you a reason to.
How the New Score Treats Multiple Buy Now Pay Later Loans
The biggest technical problem FICO had to solve was volume. A single shopping spree can open three or four small loans in one week, and a credit model that treats each one like a separate credit card application would tank a responsible borrower’s score for normal behavior. FICO’s solution aggregates multiple concurrent buy now pay later loans together in the score’s variable calculations rather than counting each one on its own.
The real-world results back that up. In FICO’s validation study of more than 500,000 Affirm borrowers, 85% saw their score move by fewer than 10 points once buy now pay later data was added, and among the heaviest users, those juggling five or more active loans, 97% saw a change of fewer than 20 points. Consumers who kept their buy now pay later payments current typically saw scores hold steady or improve. The volatility many borrowers feared, a handful of small purchases wrecking a credit score overnight, has not shown up in FICO’s own data so far.
Not Every Buy Now Pay Later App Reports the Same Way
Here is the part that catches most people off guard. Affirm reports to the bureaus. Klarna and Afterpay currently do not. Afterpay has said it will hold off until there is clear evidence that reporting reflects positively on responsible borrowers rather than penalizing them, and Klarna has argued that short-term installment products do not fit neatly into how the traditional credit system was built. Neither company has committed to a reporting timeline.
That split means two people with identical repayment habits can end up with different credit outcomes depending on which app they used to buy the same pair of shoes. If your loans run through Affirm, consistent on-time payments can now work in your favor on your credit report. If they run through Klarna or Afterpay, you still get no credit for paying on time, but a missed payment can still cost you through late fees, app restrictions, or a referral to collections.
Fox Business reporting on the divide found the protection against damage exists no matter which app you use, but the reward for good behavior currently does not, since only Affirm activity is reaching your credit file right now.
What This Means for Your Credit Score Right Now
None of this changes your score automatically today. The new models apply only once your credit bureau makes buy now pay later data available at scale and a lender chooses to pull that specific score version, which hasn’t happened everywhere yet. Most lenders evaluating you right now still use older scoring models that either ignore your buy now pay later loans entirely or miss them because they lack a dedicated field for that debt type.
Your exposure has already changed. Roughly 63% of buy now pay later users carry more than one loan at a time, and most of those balances have been invisible to underwriters approving your next credit card, auto loan, or apartment application. As reporting expands, that invisibility goes away, for better or worse.
How to Protect Your Credit Score as BNPL Reporting Expands
Pull your credit reports at annualcreditreport.com and check whether any buy now pay later loans already appear, since Affirm activity may already be showing up even if your score has not caught up yet. Confirm which provider you use for each open loan, since Affirm reports differently than Klarna or Afterpay, and that difference determines whether good behavior is helping you right now. Treat every payment with the same seriousness as a credit card due date, because late fees and collections referrals apply regardless of whether the on-time version ever helped your score. Avoid opening several new installment plans in the same week, since even with FICO’s aggregation logic, a cluster of brand-new accounts still reads as new debt. Keep a running list of every open loan across every app so a $140 purchase here and there does not quietly become a balance you lose track of.
Frequently Asked Questions About Buy Now Pay Later and Your Credit Score
Does Buy Now Pay Later Affect My Credit Score Right Now?
It depends on your provider and your lender. Affirm has reported payment data to Experian and TransUnion since 2025, and if a lender pulls one of the new FICO BNPL scores, that activity can factor in. Klarna and Afterpay do not currently report payment data either way.
Will Using Buy Now Pay Later Apps Hurt My Credit Score?
For most borrowers, no. FICO’s validation data found that 85% of users saw score changes of fewer than 10 points once buy now pay later data was included, and on-time payers tended to see scores hold steady or improve rather than drop.
Which Buy Now Pay Later Apps Report to Credit Bureaus?
Affirm currently reports to Experian and TransUnion. Klarna and Afterpay have both said they are holding off, citing concerns that the traditional credit system does not yet fairly reflect how short-term installment products are actually used.
Can a Missed Payment Still Hurt Me if My Provider Does Not Report?
Yes. Even providers that do not report positive payment history can still send missed payments to collections or restrict your account, and a collections account can land on your credit report regardless of which app issued the original loan.
Should I Stop Using Buy Now Pay Later Apps Because of the New Scoring Models?
Not necessarily. The new models reward on-time payments, not punish normal use. The bigger risk is losing track of how many loans you have open at once, which matters for your budget as much as for your credit.
Final Thoughts
Buy now, pay later loans are no longer the blind spot they used to be, and that shift cuts both ways depending on how you use them and which app you use. You cannot control whether Klarna or Afterpay reports your payment history, but you can control whether every loan you open gets paid on time and tracked somewhere other than your memory. If you are already working through other balances, the same discipline that works for paying off credit card debt on a tight budget applies just as well to installment loans split across shopping apps. Start by writing down every open loan you currently have, and let that list, not the app’s checkout screen, tell you what you can actually afford next.
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