It depends on the payment plan you choose. Most Pay in 4 plans do not report your on-time payments to the credit bureaus, so paying them off will not build your credit history. Some of our partners do report payments, and paying those on time can help you build a positive history over time.
Which plans report to the credit bureaus?
Payment plan | Reports your payments to the credit bureaus? |
Acima | Generally no** |
Affirm (all plans) | Yes* |
Cash App Afterpay | No |
Klarna Financing | Yes (longer-term loans) |
Klarna Installments | No |
Zip | No |
*Affirm reports all of its loans to Experian and TransUnion. For now, these accounts are not factored into traditional credit scores and are not visible to other lenders. That is expected to change as newer scoring models that include buy now, pay later data are adopted.
**Acima is a lease-to-own agreement rather than a loan, and lease payments are generally not reported as payment history to the major bureaus. Check your lease agreement or ask Acima directly.
What this means if building credit is your goal
Choose a plan that reports payments, and always pay on time. Turning on autopay makes this easier.
Reporting cuts both ways. The same plans that can help your score will also record late payments, which can hurt it.
"No credit needed" options such as lease-to-own are great for approval odds, but they may not build your credit history.
Credit scoring is changing
The credit industry has started to include buy now, pay later activity in credit scores. FICO introduced new score models in late 2025 that factor in BNPL loans, and lenders are adopting them over time. As adoption grows, on-time payments with lenders that report are expected to count for more. We will keep this page updated as our partners' policies change.