You may have found yourself needing a new product right away, but then you’re short on cash. You’re confident, however, that you’ll be able to make regular payments on the purchase.

If this sounds familiar to you, then you are just the type of consumer who can benefit from Buy Now Pay Later financing.

What Is Buy-Now-Pay-Later?

Just as the name implies, when you finance using Buy-Now-Pay-Later, you get the order in the mail before you need to pay anything. This type of financing was first made popular with PayPal Credit, and more recently, it has become even trendier with the introduction of Klarna.

When you order an item using either of these financing options, you get the purchase delivered to your door before you owe any money. If you’re short on cash, this may seem like the best way to get what you need right away.

Who Benefits?

If you like to try items before you commit to buying them, then this type of financing may be of value to you. Shopping online for clothes, for example, is a risk. The items may or may not fit. By using this new type of financing, you’ll only end up paying for items you keep. You don’t have to worry about waiting around for a refund.

Buy-Now-Pay-Later is also ideal for people who need to make a larger purchase. If you want to buy something today but won’t have enough money until the end of the week, you can do so. Once the item is delivered, you’ll be sent instructions on how to manage payment for your purchase.

Pay Attention to Interest Rates

When you make a purchase using Buy-Now-Pay-Later, you’re given a grace period before the purchase starts accruing interest. If you make sure to pay off your debt during this grace period, you won’t pay any fees or interest. However, if for some reason or another you fail to repay in full by this date, you will be responsible for any interest fees as stated in your agreement.

Make Repayments on Time

When you finance a purchase, you will be responsible for making all your repayments on time. Failure to do so may result in fees and interest being added to your account. Make sure you’re able to meet all your repayment obligations before committing to a Buy-Now-Pay-Later agreement.

Soft Credit Check

In most instances, you don’t need a great credit rating to be approved for Buy-Now-Pay-Later. This is because the lending company doesn’t run a full credit check on consumers. Even if you have a few blemishes on your credit report, you may still get approved for this type of financing. The more you prove yourself to be a reliable borrower, the easier it will be to obtain financing again in the future.

Protect Your Credit Rating

Even though your credit isn’t run beforehand, you can still damage your credit rating if you don’t repay your debts on time. Late and delinquent payments are reported to the credit agencies. If you want to boost your credit rating, however, you can also do so by making all your repayments on time. This is especially true if you decide to split your repayments over a course of several instalments.

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Author, Freelance writer