Does Afterpay affect your credit score?



Short answer - no, as long as you’re using it responsibly.

Afterpay is definitely the current craze, with the buy now, pay later approach to purchases. It allows you to immediately buy a good or service and pay it off later in four equal installments over 8 weeks.

Afterpay don't do a credit check before you apply and it won’t affect your credit history. However, in the fine print they do reserve the right to perform credit checks, and to report negative activity on your account to credit rating agencies. Just like any repayments system, if you miss a payment this could result in a black mark on your record and of course late fees.

Your best bet - manage your account properly to avoid getting stuck in financial trouble. Make sure you’re paying off all instalments on time and stick to your budget. Don’t get ahead of yourself and get stuck paying off what you can’t afford.

Still worried about your credit score? You can check this for free by contacting a credit reporting body (CRB) listed here on the government website.