Walmart shoppers have a new option at self-checkout: Buy now, pay later. How it works

Affirm, a buy now, pay later service, announced Tuesday it was expanding its partnership with Walmart to offer pay-over-time options without fees at the retail giant’s self-checkout kiosks.

Here’s how it works.

What’s happening?

Buy now, pay later, or BNPL, is a type of service similar to credit cards that allows you to make a purchase and pay for it over time, according to Investopedia.

Affirm announced its partnership with Walmart in early 2019 as a payment option on Walmart.com. In-store shoppers could use a barcode scanned by a store associate to make a purchase after choosing their repayment term.

Now, shoppers can do the process at self-checkout.

“Expanding our partnership with Walmart and bringing Affirm’s transparent monthly pay-over-time options to their self-checkout kiosks in the U.S. will help even more consumers increase their purchasing power during the holiday shopping season and beyond,” Pat Suh, Affirm’s senior vice president of revenue, said in a statement.

Where and when can you use it?

It’s available now at more than 4,500 Walmart stores in the U.S, on the website, in the app, and at Walmart Vision and Auto Centers.

Does buy now, pay later hurt or help my credit score?

You can check your eligibility at affirm.com/shop/walmart. If you’re approved, you’ll get a barcode on your phone.

Affirm doesn’t hurt your credit score if you make an account to see if you prequalify. But making a purchase, your payment history with Affirm, how much credit you have used and how long you’ve had credit can affect your credit score.

Making partial or late payments to Affirm can hurt your credit score. With other BNPL services, if you fall behind you can get hit with late fees that hurt your credit score.

Credit scores estimate how likely you are to pay bills and repay borrowed money, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and determine if you can get a loan or credit card and what interest you’ll pay. Generally, the lower your score, the more you’ll pay in interest.

How Affirm works at Walmart

You can choose from four interest-free payments every two weeks or monthly installments.

At Walmart, you can choose to pay between three to 24 months with no late fees for eligible items between $144 and $4,000. Users could pay between 10% and 36% in simple interest. That means it doesn’t revolve or compound. At checkout, you’ll see a whole dollar amount. Affirm doesn’t charge late or hidden fees.

You can also use an Affirm card for in-store purchases.

Why does it matter?

The expansion is part of Affirm’s efforts to boost its in-store transactions, which the company said makeup under 5% of its volume but are about 85% of retail spend in the country.

BNPL services can be easier to qualify for compared to credit cards or loans.

The New York Times reported that BNPL users tend to be economically vulnerable.

Black, Hispanic and women consumers with a household income between $20,001 and $50,000 were more likely to use BNPL compared to white, non-Hispanic and men consumers, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

BNPL services have soared in popularity in the last few years.

The share of BNPL purchases grew 14% from 2021 to 2022, according to Adobe Analytics, while revenue grew 27% year-over-year.

Between 2019 and 2021, the number of that type of loan given to consumers increased almost tenfold, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s March 2023 report.

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