Will Klarna, Afterpay, or Affirm Hurt Your Credit Score? FICO’s 2026 BNPL Change Explained

If you’ve split a purchase into four easy payments and never thought about it again, 2026 is the year to start paying attention. For years, buy now, pay later apps lived in a kind of credit blind spot — you could pay every installment on time, or miss every single one, and your credit score wouldn’t move an inch. That’s no longer true. FICO has rolled out new scoring models built specifically to read BNPL activity, and depending on how you’ve used Klarna, Afterpay, or Affirm, your BNPL credit score could be about to shift for better or worse.

Here’s what actually changed, who it affects right now, and what you should do about it before it catches you off guard.

What FICO Actually Changed

In 2025, FICO introduced two new scoring models — FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL — built in partnership with Affirm using a study of more than 500,000 BNPL users. These are the first mainstream credit scores designed to specifically read buy now, pay later loans as part of your overall credit picture, rather than ignoring them entirely.

Before this, BNPL loans mostly existed off the books. A handful of providers reported some data to the bureaus, but it wasn’t woven into your actual score. That meant millions of people were carrying what industry watchers call “phantom debt” — real short-term obligations that simply weren’t visible to lenders evaluating a mortgage, auto loan, or credit card application.

Under the new models, your BNPL credit score takes into account how many BNPL loans you’ve opened, how frequently you use them, and whether you pay on time. Lenders can choose to pull a version of your score with BNPL data included, or the traditional version without it — so adoption is happening gradually rather than all at once.

Will It Actually Hurt Your Score?

The honest answer: it depends entirely on your habits, not on the mere fact that you use BNPL.

If you pay on time, the news is genuinely good. FICO’s own testing found that most users see a change roughly comparable to opening any new account — often a modest, temporary dip followed by stabilization or improvement, sometimes in the range of about 10 points. For people with a thin credit file, especially younger consumers who don’t have a credit card yet, on-time BNPL payments can now function as real, positive credit history for the first time.

If you’re juggling several loans at once, the picture gets more sensitive. Consumers with five or more concurrent BNPL loans saw the largest swings in either direction, depending on repayment behavior. Responsible use can help; stacking multiple loans while missing payments compounds the damage quickly.

If you’ve been missing payments, this is where a BNPL credit score stops being a blind spot. Late or defaulted BNPL payments can now show up the same way a missed credit card or personal loan payment would — because, structurally, that’s exactly what they are.

Not Every App Reports the Same Way

One detail that trips people up: not all BNPL providers report to the credit bureaus, and not all of them report the same data. Affirm has been reporting certain loans to bureaus like Experian for a while. Klarna has also begun reporting activity. Afterpay, historically, reported far less, though this is an evolving landscape as providers respond to FICO’s new models and bureau partnerships.

That means a loan through one app might already be shaping your file while an identical purchase split through a different app might not be — at least for now. If you’re not sure whether a specific provider reports your activity, checking your credit report directly is the only reliable way to know.

Why FICO Made This Change Now

BNPL usage has exploded — well over 80 million Americans now use these apps regularly for everything from electronics to groceries. That scale is exactly why FICO decided it could no longer treat these loans as invisible. Lenders evaluating a mortgage or auto loan application were increasingly missing a real slice of someone’s monthly obligations, which made credit decisions less accurate for everyone, not just BNPL users.

Industry analysts are split on how this nets out for the BNPL industry itself. Some argue it could actually drive more people toward responsible BNPL use, since good habits will finally be rewarded with a stronger credit file. Others note that heavier users with a habit of missing payments will be “suddenly exposed,” which could tighten how willing BNPL providers are to keep extending credit to repeat borrowers with weak repayment histories.

What This Means for You Right Now

The rollout isn’t instant. Lenders have to choose to adopt the new FICO models, and that’s happening gradually rather than overnight, so you may not see an immediate change to your score. That said, a few practical moves now can protect your BNPL credit score before adoption becomes widespread:

• Treat every BNPL installment like a bill, not an afterthought. Missed payments increasingly carry the same weight as a missed credit card payment.
• Avoid stacking too many active loans at once. Five or more concurrent BNPL loans is the point where score swings become more noticeable.
• Check which apps you use actually report to bureaus. This determines whether your habits are currently being tracked at all.
• Pull your credit report periodically. As adoption spreads, this is the clearest way to see whether BNPL activity has started appearing on your file.
• Don’t assume “interest-free” means “risk-free.” The absence of interest doesn’t mean the absence of consequences for a missed payment.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does using Klarna, Afterpay, or Affirm automatically hurt your credit score? No. Simply using a BNPL service doesn’t damage your BNPL credit score on its own. What matters is whether you make payments on time and how many loans you’re carrying at once. Responsible use can actually help build credit history, especially for people with a thin credit file.

When did FICO start including BNPL data in credit scores? FICO announced its new BNPL-inclusive scoring models, FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL, in 2025. Adoption by individual lenders is rolling out gradually, so the real-world effect on your score depends on whether your lender has adopted the new model yet.

Do Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm all report to credit bureaus the same way? No. Reporting practices vary by provider and continue to evolve. Some BNPL companies report certain loans to specific bureaus while others report far less or not at all, so your BNPL credit score impact may differ depending on which app you use.

Can missing a BNPL payment lower my credit score? Yes, if the provider reports that account to a credit bureau. Once BNPL activity is part of your credit file, a missed payment can affect your score in much the same way a late credit card payment would.

Is it bad to have multiple BNPL loans open at the same time? It can be. FICO’s research found that consumers juggling five or more concurrent BNPL loans experienced the most noticeable score changes, in either direction, depending on how well those loans were managed.

How can I tell if BNPL is already affecting my credit score? The most reliable way is to check your credit reports directly through all three major bureaus. If you see BNPL accounts listed, that provider is already reporting your activity, and your BNPL credit score is being shaped by how you manage those payments.