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

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

#31
post #6

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.

A lot of BNPL loans are offered at 0% for X payments. Usually 6 months, sometimes 12 months on larger purchases.

Given current interest rates, I take that deal WHENEVER it's offered.

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

#32

Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. (not less) However, instead of using it to buy or construct a machine to triple what you can produce in an hour, the average person is using it to delay having to work that hour at all, in exchange for having to work an hour and six minutes sometime later. At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. i.e., credi…

> Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money.

I disagree.

You use credit to buy a car or buy a house when you don't have the cash to buy them up-front.

It's not so you can use them to make money, it's so you can use them to enjoy life.

> At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses.

Only if you go too far. The point is to buy things knowing what they'll cost monthly and for how long, and to budget those as part of your monthly expenses. As long as you can always handle those, you will never run out of hours available and it's not a house of cards. Nothing collapses. You pay off your car; you pay off your mortgage.

You seem to be treating this as something black-and-white when it's not. It's an incredibly useful tool when used with budgeting. Not "to make more money" but to have a better life for you and your family for when it matters the most. Nobody wants to wait until the kids have graduated from college to be able to buy their first house.

And even with credit cards -- yes you generally want to be paying them off in full monthly. But if you want to take a vacation a couple months before you could otherwise fully pay for it, it's really nice to have that convenience too. Not to mention covering some expenses for a few months if you lose your job. They're a tool to be used responsibly.

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

#33

Credit scores will tank further

If customers make every payment their score should improve.

What is the benefit for a consumer to use this type of loan and then pay it back on time versus using a credit card and then paying the card back on time?

To me this seems like a new product that would target a different consumer than the one that makes payments on time. But I would like if someone challenges this view. Thanks!

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

#34

Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. (not less) However, instead of using it to buy or construct a machine to triple what you can produce in an hour, the average person is using it to delay having to work that hour at all, in exchange for having to work an hour and six minutes sometime later. At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. i.e., credi…

I think my understanding has come to the fact that loans and interest can smooth out your financial situation: When I was single especially I had a lot of savings building, I was making interest and making money. Then when I had a kid, I end up paying that interest back, because expenses for a kid are way above what I can healthily operate in this economy, and I needed more financial products to cover that. But that's also not forever: As soon as a kid's in school and you aren't sending an entire paycheck a month to the daycare, you can establish a upward financial pattern again.

It'd be nice if kids were an affordable choice for anyone expect Elon Musk, but you know, here we are. \o/

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

#35

Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. (not less) However, instead of using it to buy or construct a machine to triple what you can produce in an hour, the average person is using it to delay having to work that hour at all, in exchange for having to work an hour and six minutes sometime later. At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. i.e., credi…

This is all true if you have enough for the basics and are looking above the minimum survival costs.

Just to make the money you are making now, you need some stuff, be it a phone or a car, home AC, oven or even a washing machine at home (you can't go to work hungry in dirty clothes).

If you don't have the money to pay with cash, you'll be buying that oven/stove with whatever delayed/monthly payment option is available.

Yes, if you're buying franchises you can do the "make more money" calculations, but if your kids are going to be hungry soon, you often have no choice.

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

#36

Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. (not less) However, instead of using it to buy or construct a machine to triple what you can produce in an hour, the average person is using it to delay having to work that hour at all, in exchange for having to work an hour and six minutes sometime later. At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. i.e., credi…

> Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. I disagree. You use credit to buy a car or buy a house when you don't have the cash to buy them up-front. It's not so you can use them to make money, it's so you can use them to enjoy life . > At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. Only if you go too far. The point is to buy things knowing what they'll c…

[deleted]

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

#37
post #6

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.

Shifting a cost forward a couple months interest free is a great deal for people who are financially responsible, especially if you have some other loan (like a mortgage) that you could be paying off more of instead.

It's no different to the practice of using a credit card for everything and then paying off in full a month later because the credit card interest is lower (often zero if you pay off within a month) than the mortgage interest.

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

#38

Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. (not less) However, instead of using it to buy or construct a machine to triple what you can produce in an hour, the average person is using it to delay having to work that hour at all, in exchange for having to work an hour and six minutes sometime later. At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. i.e., credi…

For a lot of folks, credit is the only way they're surviving on something close to minimum wage. Or credit was the only "safety net" they had during a rough time. Almost none of these people have the kind of collateral needed to use credit to truly transform their lives, and the government assistance for that is seriously lacking in the US (SBA loans are terrible, and you need enough money to cover your own salary un…

> credit is the only way they're surviving on something close to minimum wage. Or credit was the only "safety net" they had during a rough time

In my experience, the average American has no concept of saving money, and those below average even less.

It's funny to me that America gets flak from all over the world for having no social safety net; if this was actually true, you'd expect to see people put aside a bit of their income, however meager it may be, out of an expectation that they will need it. What do you see in practice? You see people dashing over to the nearest rent-to-own rims shop. (If you don't know poor people, you may not know such businesses exist.)

> Almost none of these people have the kind of collateral needed to use credit to truly transform their lives, and the government assistance for that is seriously lacking in the US

I doubt that greater availability of credit, perhaps facilitated through government subsidy, is what precludes the majority of such people from transforming their lives.

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

#39
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If customers make every payment their score should improve.

What is the benefit for a consumer to use this type of loan and then pay it back on time versus using a credit card and then paying the card back on time? To me this seems like a new product that would target a different consumer than the one that makes payments on time. But I would like if someone challenges this view. Thanks!

> What is the benefit for a consumer to use this type of loan and then pay it back on time versus using a credit card and then paying the card back on time?

Slightly longer repayment time frames. (Multiple months instead of just one.)

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

#40

Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. (not less) However, instead of using it to buy or construct a machine to triple what you can produce in an hour, the average person is using it to delay having to work that hour at all, in exchange for having to work an hour and six minutes sometime later. At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. i.e., credi…

> Theoretically, credit should be used for one thing: to make more money. I disagree. You use credit to buy a car or buy a house when you don't have the cash to buy them up-front. It's not so you can use them to make money, it's so you can use them to enjoy life . > At some point, you run out of hours available and the house of cards collapses. Only if you go too far. The point is to buy things knowing what they'll c…

> They're a tool to be used responsibly.

I used to hate to take the position that government should save people from themselves, but I've moderated a lot on it. Some people clearly cannot use credit responsibly.

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