Does Afterpay affect my credit score or a future home loan?

Short answer: it can. Since June 2025, buy now, pay later (BNPL) in Australia is regulated as credit. Signing up now triggers a credit check that shows on your credit report, and missed payments can be reported too. When you apply for a home loan one day, lenders also look at your bank statements and how you handle money overall.

So BNPL isn't the "free and invisible" option it used to feel like. The simplest way to keep your credit clean is to not need it.

What changed with buy now, pay later in 2025?

From 10 June 2025, BNPL came under Australia's National Credit Code. In plain terms:

• BNPL providers now need an Australian credit licence, like other lenders
• They have to do some checks before lending to you (lighter checks for most BNPL products, which count as "low cost credit contracts")
• You get more protection if things go wrong, including access to the free complaints service, AFCA

Does Afterpay affect my credit score in Australia?

Here's how it can show up on your credit report:

• The credit check (enquiry). Afterpay now checks your credit when you sign up, and may check again before raising your spend limit. Each check is recorded as an enquiry and stays on your report for five years. Lots of them close together can look like a red flag to lenders.
• Missed payments. Afterpay says it doesn't currently report your repayment history or spend limit to credit bureaus. But its credit reporting policy says it may report it to Experian if you don't meet your payment obligations or commit a serious credit infringement. Other BNPL providers have their own policies, so check yours.
• Defaults. For any credit, if a payment of $150 or more is 60+ days overdue and you've been sent the required notices, a default can be listed. Defaults stay on your report for five years, even after you pay.

What is comprehensive credit reporting?

Credit reports used to mostly show the bad stuff. Under comprehensive credit reporting, they can also show information from banks and other licensed credit providers, like:

• the accounts you have and their limits
• your repayment history for the last 24 months, month by month

A payment is only counted as late if it's more than 14 days past the due date. Not every provider reports repayment history, so BNPL can look different depending on who you use.

You can get your credit report free every three months from each credit reporting body (Equifax and Experian). Worth a look once a year to check it's right. The basics: What even is a credit score?

Does Afterpay affect a home loan or borrowing power?

A home loan lender looks at the whole picture, not just one number. That usually includes:

• your credit report (enquiries, accounts, any missed payments or defaults)
• your bank statements, where BNPL repayments show up clearly
• your income, your regular spending and anything else you owe

BNPL repayments are money already spoken for out of your pay, so they can count against what a lender thinks you can afford. Even if a provider doesn't report them to a credit bureau, the lender can see them in your statements.

Should I cancel Afterpay before applying for a home loan?

If a home loan is in your future, the cleanest move is to stop using BNPL well before you apply, pay off anything open, and close the account. Then your statements just show you living within your pay.

Already got a few plans going? No shame. Pay them off one at a time and don't start new ones. How do I even pick avalanche vs snowball?

The DoshHero take: skip the BNPL debt

DoshHero doesn't recommend going into debt. A home loan is about the only time borrowing may be necessary, and a jacket, a phone or concert tickets aren't that. Instead of splitting it into four:

• Want it soon? Put it in a sinking pot and buy it outright in a few weeks. What even is a sinking fund?
• Small one-off? That's what your Flex pot is for.
• Something broke? That's your Emergency Fund's job. What even is an emergency fund?

Waiting one or two pays almost always beats owing, and your future home loan application will thank you. Curious what owing really costs week to week? Try the Debt playground.

See also

What even is Afterpay / BNPL? · What even is a credit score? · How do I even build credit without wrecking myself? · Owing money isn't a vibe fail · Debt playground