Does Afterpay Build Credit? Understanding Buy Now, Pay Later

Although it seems similar in some ways to a credit purchase, Afterpay may not help your credit history with the three main credit reporting agencies. Afterpay is a buy now, pay later service and app that allows its users to pay for items over time in four installments. Payments are made over six weeks, and participants are not charged interest if they pay what they owe in four installments.^[1]

To get a better idea of how Afterpay impacts your credit history, this article shows you how Afterpay works and how it can affect your finances.

Key points

• Afterpay is a buy now, pay later service that splits purchases into four interest-free installments paid over six weeks.
• Afterpay does not currently report payment activity to U.S. credit bureaus, meaning on-time payments will not build credit history. Though accounts that become seriously delinquent may be passed to collections, which can appear on a credit report.
• Afterpay may request a soft pull on your credit report to determine a spending limit for you that fits within your financial situation, but this will not have any impact on your credit score.

Table of contents

• What is Afterpay?
• Does Afterpay build credit?
• Does Afterpay check your credit history?
• Does Afterpay charge interest?
• What happens if you miss payments?
• Which Buy Now, Pay Later platforms impact credit?
• Practice good credit habits

What is Afterpay?

• Afterpay offers a payment plan that allows you to pay the purchase price of an item in four interest-free installments. Under this buy now, pay later (BNPL) option, you typically make the first payment upfront and pay the rest in three interest-free installments over time. ^[2]
• The company does not charge any fees when you pay on time, and it prevents you from making more purchases (and, therefore, going further into debt) if you have missed a payment. ^[3]
• Afterpay offers a digital card that can be used when making point-of-sale purchases from participating brick-and-mortar retailers and through online shopping apps. ^[4]
• Payment options include U.S.-issued debit cards and credit cards from Visa and Mastercard, as well as checking accounts from domestic banks, but Afterpay doesn’t accept payments from other Buy Now, Pay Later providers or overseas banks. ^[5]

Does Afterpay build credit?

Using Afterpay won’t help you build credit, because the company doesn’t report any payments you make to the three major credit bureaus. Fortunately, Afterpay won’t directly hurt your credit, either.

However, if you fail to make on-time payments on your Afterpay account, your loan could be turned over to a debt collector. If this happens, it could be reported to a credit reporting company, and this would have a negative impact on your credit score.^{[6] [7]}

Does Afterpay check your credit history?

Afterpay may conduct a soft credit check on new customers when they sign up. Although your application may be declined, soft inquiries or soft pulls do not affect credit scores.^[6]

Does Afterpay charge interest?

Afterpay does not charge interest. However, the company may charge late fees if you don’t make your payments on time or your payment does not process and, after you are notified, you don’t make a manual payment. Afterpay sends you payment reminders so you can be sure you have money in your account to cover the payment.^[8]

What happens if you miss payments?

If you haven’t paid an installment, you may be subject to a late fee once the grace period is over. Typically the grace period lasts 10 days after the due date unless your payment schedule or applicable state law specifies otherwise. The fee won’t be more than $8 per installment and also can’t be higher than the maximum allowed under state law. Additionally, the total late fees you will be responsible for on a single order won’t be more than 25% of the order value at the time of purchase.^[9]

Which Buy Now, Pay Later platforms impact credit?

When it comes to impacting your credit score, not all BNPL platforms are created equal. While Afterpay does not currently affect your credit because it does not report activity to the credit bureaus, some platforms do alert credit reporting agencies:

Affirm

For plans that started after April 1st, 2025, Affirm now reports all payment plans and payment activity, including on-time, late, and missed payments, to the Experian credit bureau. For plans started after May 1st, 2025, all payment activity is also reported to the TransUnion credit bureau. ^[10]

Perpay

Perpay is a buy now, pay later marketplace where users receive a spending limit (up to $1,000) to shop for products like electronics, home goods, apparel, and similar items exclusively within the Perpay Marketplace.

Perpay reports to all three major bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, but only through its paid Perpay+ subscription, which costs $5 per month.

• Reporting begins within 30–60 days of Perpay+ activation
• Bureau reporting requires four months of on-time payments exceeding $200 in total before it begins
• The spending limit (up to $1,000) is reported as a credit line, which can help lower credit utilization
• On-time payments are reported monthly; up to 24 months of payment history is reported
• Late or missed payments may also be reported and could negatively affect credit scores
• Perpay+ does not remove existing negative credit history

^[11][12]

Practice good credit habits

You can’t pay for everything through BNPL providers, so it’s essential to practice good credit habits when using a credit card:

• Make on-time payments: Under the FICO® system, your payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score. Avoiding missed payments to lenders can be a valuable tool in avoiding bad credit.^[13]
• Use your credit cards responsibly: Maintaining large balances on your revolving credit accounts, especially compared with your credit limit, may impact your score. According to FICO®, “amounts owed” on accounts (including your credit utilization ratio or CUR on revolving accounts) is worth 30% your credit score.^[14]
• Pay down debt: Paying down debt can improve your CUR. FICO® considers the amount you owe on all your accounts, as well as on different types of accounts; how many of your accounts have balances; and the amount you owe on installment loans compared with the original loan.^[14]
• Become an authorized user: Becoming an authorized user on a credit card can allow you to piggyback on their credit history. Make sure that the person who agrees to add you as an authorized user has been paying on the account as agreed, has had the account open for some time and maintains a low credit utilization ratio (CUR; the total debt balance on the card divided by total credit limit) with the card.^[15]
• Use a credit builder loan: A credit builder loan operates differently than a traditional loan does: Instead of the borrower getting the money upfront and then following a repayment plan, you make payments first. You then receive the loan proceeds (minus interest and fees) once all the payments have been made.

Whether you’re new to credit or trying to rebuild your credit, we can help. Self provides tools and resources to build healthy credit habits.

Sources

1. Afterpay, “How It Works” https://www.afterpay.com/en-US/how-it-works Accessed 17 April, 2026
2. Afterpay, “When Will My First Payment Be Taken?” https://help.afterpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003811446-When-will-my-first-payment-be-taken Accessed 17 April, 2026
3. Afterpay, “I Missed a Payment, What Happens to My Account?” https://help.afterpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/900005359743-I-missed-a-payment-What-happens-to-my-account Accessed 17 April, 2026
4. Afterpay, “Afterpay Card - How It Works” https://help.afterpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/43727948288281-Afterpay-Card-How-it-works Accessed 17 April, 2026
5. Afterpay, “Which Cards Does Afterpay Accept?” https://help.afterpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/20249507136025-Which-cards-does-Afterpay-accept Accessed 17 April, 2026
6. Afterpay, “Does Afterpay Conduct Credit Checks?” https://help.afterpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/4487846176793-Does-Afterpay-conduct-credit-checks Accessed 17 April, 2026
7. CFPB, “Will a Buy Now, Pay Later Loan Impact My Credit Scores?” https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/will-a-buy-now-pay-later-bnpl-loan-impact-my-credit-scores-en-2117/ Accessed 17 April, 2026
8. Afterpay, “Is There a Cost to Using Afterpay?” https://help.afterpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/900005359783-Is-there-a-cost-to-using-Afterpay Accessed 17 April, 2026
9. Afterpay, “Installment Agreement” https://www.afterpay.com/en-US/installment-agreement Accessed 17 April, 2026
10. Affirm, “Affirm Credit Reporting” https://helpcenter.affirm.com/s/article/affirm-credit-reporting Accessed 17 April, 2026
11. Perpay, “How Perpay Works” https://help.perpay.com/en/articles/450206-how-perpay-works Accessed 17 April, 2026
12. Perpay, “Perpay+ FAQs” https://help.perpay.com/en/articles/4622325-perpay-faqs Accessed 17 April, 2026
13. MyFICO, “How Payment History Impacts Your Credit Score” https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/payment-history Accessed 17 April, 2026
14. MyFICO, “How Owing Money Can Impact Your Credit Score” https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/amount-of-debt Accessed 17 April, 2026
15. MyFICO, “How Can I Start Building My Credit History?” https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/faq/improving-a-score/building-credit-history Accessed 17 April, 2026

About the author

Ana Gonzalez-Ribeiro, MBA, AFC® is an Accredited Financial Counselor® and a Bilingual Personal Finance Writer and Educator dedicated to helping populations that need financial literacy and counseling. Her informative articles have been published in various news outlets and websites including Huffington Post, Fidelity, Fox Business News, MSN and Yahoo Finance. She also founded the personal financial and motivational site www.AcetheJourney.com and translated into Spanish the book, Financial Advice for Blue Collar America by Kathryn B. Hauer, CFP. Ana teaches Spanish or English personal finance courses on behalf of the W!SE (Working In Support of Education) program has taught workshops for nonprofits in NYC.

About the author

Becca has over 10 years of experience as a content writer, working across various industries including finance, digital marketing, education, travel, and technology. Her work has been featured in publications including Forbes, Business Insider, AOL, Yahoo, GOBankingRates, and more.