Most Credit Scores Unhurt by Buy Now, Pay Later Loans, FICO Says

The biggest US buy now, pay later providers have long pushed back against sharing their data with credit-scoring firms, claiming their installment loans would ding consumers’ ratings. A new report suggests that’s largely untrue.

A yearlong study conducted by credit-rating company Fair Isaac Corp. examining the impact of the opening and closing of short-term installment loans shows either higher scores or no score changes for most consumers who had recently obtained five or more of Affirm Holdings Inc. BNPL loans. The BNPL industry has long requested that FICO develop a method for treating its loan data.