The Financial Conduct Authority told buy-now-pay-later firms they must begin reporting customer repayment behaviour to UK credit reference agencies by 1 April 2027, a move that will surface short-term instalment plans on the same files mortgage lenders review.
Wednesday’s policy statement ends a two-year transition after Parliament brought BNPL under FCA supervision. Until now, many shoppers could stack four-payment checkouts without those lines appearing on Experian, Equifax or TransUnion reports, letting affordability assessments miss recurring commitments.
What changes for borrowers
From the April deadline, providers must supply account status, limits, balances and missed payments on at least a monthly cycle. Data must meet the same accuracy standards as credit card issuers, with dispute routes through the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The FCA said firms may report zero-balance accounts that were closed in good standing, which could help thin-file customers build history. Conversely, a missed £40 fashion instalment could linger for six years, the same retention period as mainstream consumer credit.
Industry pushback
Trade body the Financial Services Consumer Panel welcomed the clarity but warned that shoppers need plain-language notices before checkout. Klarna, Clearpay and PayPal Pay in 3 said they already report in some overseas markets and will adapt UK APIs without changing core product economics.
Broker groups argued the rule should have arrived sooner. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association said one in five first-time buyers it surveyed last summer had active BNPL plans hidden from automated affordability engines.
Card market context
The timing lands as purchase APRs on UK credit cards hover near multi-year highs and balance-transfer promotions stretch past 600 days for prime borrowers. Card issuers hope richer BNPL data will slow hidden instalment debt, though fintechs counter that transparent instalments are safer than rolling card balances at 30 percent-plus rates.
Consumers carrying both products should pull statutory credit reports early next year to check how legacy BNPL accounts are labelled. The FCA will publish technical standards in January, including field definitions and test harnesses for lenders.
Enforcement
Firms that miss the April deadline face supervisory letters and possible fines. The regulator said it will run mystery-shopping exercises on checkout flows to ensure BNPL providers disclose that repayments will be reported. For households budgeting through the winter, the practical message is simple: treat instalment plans like any other loan, because lenders soon will.
Debt charities welcomed the reporting rule but asked the FCA to pair it with clearer affordability prompts at checkout, especially for younger shoppers buying electronics and travel. StepChange said its helpline already sees callers with four or more active BNPL plans that never appeared on mortgage fact finds.
Building societies told the regulator they need at least six months of reported history before changing automated decline rules, so the full impact on first-time buyers may not show until late 2027 even though reporting starts in April.