Buy Now Pay Later services including Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay are now reporting payment history to all three major credit bureaus, affecting the credit scores of 75 million American users.

Impact

On-time BNPL payments will help build credit for users with thin files. However, missed payments and high utilization across multiple BNPL accounts will now damage scores — a new risk many consumers didn't anticipate.

Expert Advice

Financial advisors recommend treating BNPL like any other credit obligation and keeping total BNPL commitments under 10% of monthly income.