FICO to incorporate buy-now-pay-later loans into credit scores

This would probably only affect the people with the worst credit scores I imagine. I just don't see a ton of 800+ credit score people deciding to spend 5 payments of $20 for a pair of $80 shoes.

I always thought it was interesting that the BNPL loans’ interest is subsidized by the retailer, which pay the premium in order to improve the chance of a sale (hoping to hone in on those who can’t afford it now and make it back on that extra spend). Which means high credit score, wealthy spenders could put everything they can on BNPL plans and profit the (minuscule) interest over time, but if you can do that on big purchases, maybe it’ll add up. Same way credit cards work, if you have the cash flow and always pay them off in full, you can make a few bucks in a HYSA for the 40 ish days before the statement.

I can see a future where a BNPL loan is not offered if the signals the checkout page collects indicates wealth, since they don’t have an issue of cash flow stopping a purchase. Imagine a loan that has a credit score maximum, not a minimum.

This is a theory, but it flies directly in the face of reality which is that nearly every retailer on the planet would prefer more wealthy customers.

Eh, in the same way a lot of retailers offer student discounts, they want to meet everyone at their maximum spending limit to capture more of the demand curve. It doesn’t have to be one or the other; not offering BNPL loans to wealthy customers aren’t likely to tangibly affect sales of that group.