Afterpay is an alternative to a credit card

If you have a decent monthly income, cash on hand and a credit score of 700 or more you will have resources available when you find yourself in a financial pinch. If none of the above applies to you then you might want to consider Afterpay. This is a relatively new way to make purchases now and pay for them later. If you qualify, you download the App to your cell phone and then you can purchase up to $600 in merchandise. You pay it off in 4 installments using your debit card. You make an initial down payment at the time of purchase and then you are billed 3 more times at 2 week intervals. Your purchase is paid for within 6 weeks, unless you decide to pay it off early. This service can only be accessed through participating merchants, which vary depending on your location.

In my area there are only 3 stores that currently use the After Pay App and they are Dick’s Sporting Goods, DDW and Foot Locker. In a nearby town there are a few more options. When you find a participating retailer you can shop in person or online. I utilized After Pay at two stores in December. My first purchase came to $90.00 and they took $23.00 immediately from my debit card. My second purchase was $65.00 a few days later and the down payment was $15.00. Two weeks later near the first of January. my account was zapped for $22.00 and $20.00 one day apart.

This was done again near the middle of January and today February 3 my last payment was made. I now have $600 at my disposal if I need it but I don’t anticipate purchasing that much at once. For each purchase you must make the initial payment up from of 1/4. On $600 that would be $150 down. Once you make 30 on time payments you will no longer need to pay anything up front. After Pay may not be right for everyone but for some it’s a blessing. I now have a method that I can choose to use for Christmas, birthdays, or other special occasions if the need arises.

One of the worst situations to be in is to desire to do something nice for someone else or have a need yourself and not be able to supply it. I may not use After Pay again until December 2021 and I probably will not use the $600.00 limit. It’s good, however to know this service is available if you need it. The minimum purchase amount to use Afterpay is $35. If you use this amount your payments will be under $10. There are many people whose credit has been affected by job loss due to the Coronavirus and After Pay might be just the thing to help.

When you are used to being able to shop when you need to, it’s a hard blow to find you have no resources. The good think about this service is the the limit is $600 so you won’t be able to become overextended in excessive debt. Discipline is key so if you cannot afford $150.00 every 2 weeks, please don’t use the entire credit limit at one time. Another benefit is that you cannot have more than 2 open purchases at one time. My 2 payments were a total of $42 which cost me $84 in January. Keep in mind that whatever your payment is you will pay double within the first 30 days.

One aspect of Afterpay that I am considering is using it to do my Christmas shopping early. I can make small purchases and pay them off in 6 weeks, then do it again. I could also use the $600 at once, pay it off then repeat if I had the funds to do so. It all depends on each person’s individual circumstance but there are multiple ways to utilize this App. The one thing to keep in mind is to make sure you have the down payment and you can afford the payments every 2 weeks during the next 6 weeks.

Afterpay will not report to a credit agency so your credit score will not be affected one way or another. There are no fees for using the service unless your payment is late. You might be charged up to 25% of your purchase price in late fees. That’s $25 per $100.00 spent plus your privileges will be suspended until the account is up to date. Not everyone will have need of the services that Afterpay provides but for those who take advantage of this App it will be a blessing. You just scan the App from your phone at the register and you are good to go.