The truth about Afterpay.
The truth
about Afterpay.
Get to know Afterpay and how we really work.
Get to know Afterpay and
how we really work.
Say no to compounding debt.
Spend responsibly and without the risk of compounding debt. Unlike credit cards, Afterpay is designed to be paid off.
Here’s how we protect Canadian customers:
We don’t charge interest.
Customers don’t pay interest or fees to use Afterpay at checkout. Merchants pay us a fee each time our customers use Afterpay to make a purchase.
We don't charge late fees in Canada.
If you miss a payment, you won’t pay any late fees with us. Some BNPL services may charge, but we don’t.
We pause accounts.
We pause accounts when payments are missed to help you get back on track. Until payments are up to date, you won’t be able to buy anything else with us.
We have smart spend limits.
New accounts begin with a low spend limit, at $600, and may increase as you build a history of on-time payments. Spending limits decrease too; our real-time technology takes into account a range of different factors, including any late payments, in deciding spending limits.
We help you keep tabs on spending.
Our app makes it easy for customers to manage orders, check spend limits, and view all their payments in one place. You’ll get helpful reminders before each installment - and you can even set your own spend cap below your limit for extra control.
Afterpay in numbers.
0%
Interest, really.
Unlike credit cards, we don’t charge interest.
$600
Our spending limit starts low and only increases with proven on-time repayment behaviour.
They only increase with proven on-time repayment behaviour.
$111
The average amount spent per Afterpay order.
96%
5
of all installments were paid on-time or early. It’s in our interest to have customers pay us back.96%
5
The amount of Canadians who pay their Afterpay installments on-time or early. It’s in our interest to have customers pay us back.38
That’s the average age of an Afterpay customer, though adults of all ages use Afterpay.
35
That’s average Afterpay customer , while adults of all ages use Afterpay
Did you know?
Afterpay enforces responsible spending limits
We take a number of steps to help ensure you spend responsibly. Our spending limits start low, at $600, and increase gradually over time with consistent on-time payments. We use email and text message reminders to make sure payments are made on time. If you miss a payment, we pause your account and you won’t be able to buy anything else with Afterpay until you’re up to date on payments. If an Afterpay shopper is having a hard time paying off their balance, we work with them on a case-by-case basis to develop a payment plan without any additional costs.
Afterpay is the opposite of credit cards
We created Afterpay to help people make purchases with their own money and avoid being stuck in compounding debt. Unlike credit cards, if an Afterpay shopper misses a payment, their account is paused and they won’t be able to buy anything else until they are up to date. Afterpay is purposefully designed to limit debt accumulation and is used as a responsible budgeting and spending tool.
Afterpay doesn’t use or report to credit bureaus
We don’t do credit checks to assess creditworthiness or report late installment payments to credit bureaus. Instead of affecting credit scores, accounts are paused if payments are missed. We don’t believe that using Afterpay should result in a bad credit history.
Afterpay operates within Canada’s consumer protection and payment oversight frameworks.
We operate under Canadian consumer protection laws and within applicable federal payment oversight frameworks, including the Retail Payment Activities Act.
How does Afterpay work?
We pay the merchant in full and upfront on your behalf. You pay for the first installment of 25% at the time of purchase, and the remaining 3 installments will be automatically deducted from your selected payment card over the following 6 weeks. Afterpay is designed to be fully repaid within six weeks.
What happens if I miss a payment?
If you can't make a payment, contact us as soon as possible to discuss your options. You may be able to reschedule the payment or make a partial payment.
If you do miss a payment, we pause your account and you won’t be able to buy anything else with us until your payments are up to date. If you find yourself in financial difficulty, we have a dedicated team that can design a program specific to your circumstances to help you get back on track.
Spending limits may decrease too. We take into account a range of different factors, including late payments, in deciding spending limits. We do everything we can to help you. We also send reminders leading up to payment due dates and send an alert if a payment has failed.
Total late fees are capped at 25% of the order price, and will never exceed $68 per order, regardless of the order amount.
- For orders $40 and over: each time a payment is late, an initial fee of $10 will be charged. A further fee of up to $7 will be charged if the payment remains unpaid seven days after the due date. For example: A $60 order with four $15 instalments will incur an initial $10 late fee, and a further $5 if the payment remains unpaid seven days after the due date. In this case, the further fee of $7 is reduced because total late fees are capped at 25% of the order price, $15.
- For orders under $40: the maximum possible late fee is $10 and will only be charged once. For example: A $20 order with four $5 instalments will only ever incur a one-off $5 late fee.
We also pause your account until the balance is paid and you're back on track. We’re committed to doing everything we can to help you not miss a payment. We’ve designed Afterpay to be completely different to traditional credit products that charge interest, so that our customers are never in a situation of high compounding interest and revolving debt.
How does Afterpay make money?
Afterpay is purposefully designed so brands pay us fees and shoppers don’t have to. Merchants gain access to a large and growing segment of shoppers who prefer not to incur credit card debt or interest.
The simple answer is that Afterpay charges a fee to merchants for each transaction; this is the main way we make money. We have been purposefully designed to be free to consumers who pay on time. And unlike traditional credit providers, those are our best customers.
