Liz Weston: How buy now, pay later loans could alter credit

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet

Credit reporting bureaus are eager to add popular and largely unregulated “buy now, pay later” loans to credit reports. These products allow consumers to split their purchase into installment payments. Adding buy now, pay later loans to credit reports could offer a big opportunity to consumers with little or no credit history. However, much needs to be done before the data is part of credit scores, so if you want to build credit now, buy now, pay later is not a magic ticket. Becoming an authorized user on someone else’s credit card, getting a credit-builder loan or a secured credit card, and other traditional methods of building credit still work.