Typically, when using Buy Now, Pay Later loans, consumers pay for a given purchase in four installments over six weeks, in a model more similar to layaway than to a traditional credit card. The loans are marketed as zero-interest, and most require no credit check or only a soft credit check.

FICO, the company behind the most widely used credit scores, announced a plan to start factoring buy now, pay later loans into credit scores. On time payments can help users build up credit ratings, but missed payments could hurt scores.