FICO Will Now Score Your Buy Now, Pay Later Habits Across Major Apps Like Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay

If you’re using Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay or PayPal to break up your payments, just know, FICO will be watching.

The credit scoring giant just dropped news that it’s rolling out new score models that will track your buy now, pay later behavior.

They’re calling them FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL. These are the first scores of their kind from a major credit bureau to factor in BNPL data.

Julie May, VP at FICO, said the move reflects how much these types of loans are “shaping people’s financial lives.” The update is meant to help lenders better understand who’s financially stable and who’s just stacking delayed payments.

BNPL started off as a way to split up big purchases like electronics, clothes, maybe some furniture. Now, with prices up and inflation still squeezing, people are using these apps to pay for everyday stuff. Groceries included.

A LendingTree report says 25% of BNPL users have used it for food, up from 14% the year before.

With student loan payments back, interest rates high, and budgets tight, BNPL has been a lifeline. But now that it’s being added into credit scoring, your payment habits with these services could help or hurt you when it comes to getting approved for loans, credit cards, or even apartments.

FICO says it worked with top lenders across the U.S. and the feedback was the same: they want this data.

According to them, including BNPL is a “critical step” to help make smarter lending decisions and expand access to credit in a more responsible way.

So beware. That $200 split into four payments might seem harmless, but miss one and your credit could take the hit.