In recent years, technology has revolutionized the way we shop. Gone are the days when we had to wait for days or even weeks to get our hands on the products we desired. With the advent of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, consumers in the United States are now enjoying a hassle-free shopping experience and can now conveniently pay for their purchases in installments.
Buy Now, Pay Later which is also abbreviated as BNPL, is a plan that allows shoppers to make purchases and defer the payment to a later date. The cost of your purchases will be divided into smaller amounts in equal installments, normally interest-free with minimum fees.
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Buy Now Pay Later Companies in the USA
There are numerous buy-now-pay later companies in the USA, but we are going to discuss the top seven of them, where we’re going to emphasize on their repayment plans, fees, etc. Let’s get started .
1. Affirm
Overview
Affirm is one of the popular platforms that offers buy-now, pay-later services in the USA. It was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California. It has over 12 million active subscribers. In our opinion, Affirm is good for both large and small-scale purchases.
The company offers a variety of buy now, pay later services, such as monthly payment plans and pay-in-four plans. Affirm is affiliated with popular merchants such as Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and Pottery Barn
Affirm Approval Check
For you to get approval for Affirm buy now, pay later offer, the company will run a soft credit check on your credit report, but your credit score won’t be affected. They may also check your past payment history with them, like how long your Affirm account has lasted and whether you have unpaid loan with them, among other inquiries into your Affirm account.
Affirm Repayment Plan
Affirm has different repayment plans, like the pay-in-four option, where the cost of your purchases will be divided into 4 equal installments and is due biweekly. The first down payment is normally due at checkout. They also have another repayment plan where customers can repay in 3, 6 and 12 months. Not only that, they also have a longer repayment plan that may be up to 60 months.
Affirm Interest Rate And Interest Rate
Affirm’s pay-in-four option doesn’t have interest. However, there is an interest rate for Affirm’s monthly plans, which is between 0% and 36% of the annual percentage rate (APR).
Affirm doesn’t charge hidden fees, there are no late fees or charges.
2. Klarna
Overview
Klarna is a public brand company that was founded in 2005. It operates in different countries, like the United States, Sweden, Europe, etc. It has over 400,000 merchants globally and over 147 million active users.
Interestingly, Klarna offers different payment plans to users, such as a monthly repayment option and a pay-in-four financing option. The good news is that Klarna is accepted in most retail stores, such as Etsy, Macy’s, Sephora and Foot Locker.
Klarna Approval Check
Klarna will run a soft credit check on your credit report to determine your creditworthiness, though the check won’t affect your credit score. The major criteria that Klarna uses in approving your application are the exact amount in your bank account, the product cost and your Klarna past history.
Klarna Repayment Plan
Klarna offers different repayment plans, like Pay in 4, where your purchase cost will be divided into four equal parts. They also have a pay-in-30 financing option, where users are expected to repay their loan after 30 days after their product was shipped to them. Additionally, Klarna has monthly repayment plans which range from 6 to 24 months.
Klarna Interest Rate And Late Fees
Klarna Pay-in-four and Pay-in-30 financing options don’t incur interest. However, their monthly repayment plans incur interest, which range from 0% to 29.99% of the annual percentage rate (APR).
Klarna charges $7 late fees for late payments that are more than ten days behind schedule.
3. Afterpay
Overview
AfterPay was founded in 2014 and it is an Australian company that has branches in different countries across the globe, like the United States, Australia, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, etc. It has over 144,000 merchants globally and over 20 million customers. AfterPay is most suitable for students because of its friendly policies.
AfterPay offers multiple payment options to their customers, like monthly repayment plans and the pay-in-four option. The company is affiliated with popular merchants like Old Navy, Nordstrom, Gap, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. to give their customers a good shopping experience.
AfterPay Approval Check
As a first-time user, for you to be able to get approval for the AfterPay buy now, pay later offer, the company will run a soft credit check on your credit report but your credit score won’t be affected. They may also check your card, either credit or debit, to know whether you have enough balance. Not only that, they will also check if you have an outstanding debt with the company and how long you have been with the platform.
AfterPay Repayment Plan
AfterPay has different repayment plans, like the pay-in-four method and the monthly repayment plan, which could be either 6 or 12 months.
AfterPay Interest Rate And Late Fees
The company doesn’t charge interest for pay-in-four plan, while their monthly plans incur interest, which is normally between 0% and 35.99% of the annual percentage rate (APR).
If you are able to repay your Afterpay on time, it doesn’t attract fees, but if you fail to pay on time, it will attract a late fee of $8.
4. Apple Pay Later
Overview
Apple Pay was launched in the United States October 20, 2014, Since its launch, the platform has continued to gain acceptance in different countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, etc.
The platform offers a pay-in-four repayment plan; the payment option is normally available in retail stores that accept Apple Pay in-app or online. Interestingly, their users can apply for Apple Pay Later plans via the Apple Wallet.
Apple Pay Later Approval Check
For you to get the Apple pay later offer, the company will run a soft credit check on your pay later application, but it won’t affect your credit score. For now, that is the only criteria that Apple uses to determine those who are eligible for their pay-later offer.
Apple Pay Later Repayment Plan
Apple only offers a pay-in-four repayment option, which involves dividing your purchase cost into four equal installments during checkout.
Apple Pay Later Interest Rate And Late Fees
Apple doesn’t charge interest or late fees for their Pay Later offer.
5. Sezzle
Overview
Sezzle is one of the popular buy now, pay later platforms that is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It operates in different countries of the world, such as the United States, Canada, Germany, etc. Currently, it has more than 45,000 merchants globally and over 3 million active customers.
Sezzle offers pay-in-four financing options, both online and offline. There are over 45,000 retail outlets where Sezzle is accepted as a payment option, including Target.
Sezzle Approval Check
Sezzle may run a soft credit check on your credit report to determine your creditworthiness, though this check won’t affect your credit score. They may also check your spending limit and your Sezzle account history.
Sezzle Repayment Plan
Sezzle only offers a pay-in-four financing option where your purchase cost will be divided into four equal installments that will be due biweekly, but your first down payment will be made at the checkout.
Sezzle Interest Rates And Late Fees
Pay-in-four financing options at Sezzle are interest-free.
Sezzle doesn’t charge late fees but may deactivate your Sezzle account after two days if you miss a payment. Once your account is deactivated, you may be charged $15 before your account is reactivated again.
6. PayPal
Overview
PayPal is an online peer-to-peer payment processing platform that allows their users to make purchases and defer the payment to a later date. Currently, their services are both in-store and online. They have millions of active users. It is best suited for small purchases between the range of $30 to $1,500.
PayPal offers different financing options, such as monthly payment option and pay-in-four plan. The company partners with different merchants like Target, GameStop, Home Depot, Target, etc.
PayPal Approval Check
PayPal may run a soft credit check for their pay-in-four financing option, which won’t affect your credit score but it may likely run a hard credit check on your credit report if you opt for their monthly financing option. The hard check may slightly affect your credit score. PayPal approval criteria is based on the information they got from credit bureaus, your PayPal account history and the information you filled in your loan application.
PayPal Repayment Plan
PayPal has different repayment plans, such as the pay-in-four plan, where your product cost will be split into four equal installments. It also has a monthly repayment plan with six-month, one-year or two-year terms.
PayPal Interest Rate And Late Fees
There are no interest fees for PayPal’s pay-in-four financing option but its monthly repayment plan comes with an interest charge that ranges from 9.99% to 29.99% of the annual percentage rate (APR).
PayPal doesn’t charge late fees.