topic Re: FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts in Understanding FICO® Scoring

FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts

Dilbert934 — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 02:57:00 GMT

Made a few small purchases and figured I'd do the Affirm Pay In 4 since I could use their money for 2 months. A few weeks later I got a notice of a new tradeline. My first thought was "**bleep**, I guess they started reporting to CRAs."

A few days later I get an alert my score had incresed. FICO 8 went from 790 to 830 and Fico 9 went from 801 to 846.

Would these installment accounts really make that much of a difference?

Re: FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts

GZG — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 03:57:10 GMT

@Dilbert934 wrote:
Made a few small purchases and figured I'd do the Affirm Pay In 4 since I could use their money for 2 months. A few weeks later I got a notice of a new tradeline. My first thought was "**bleep**, I guess they started reporting to CRAs."

A few days later I get an alert my score had incresed. FICO 8 went from 790 to 830 and Fico 9 went from 801 to 846.

Would these installment accounts really make that much of a difference?

what's the reported balances of these loans, I wonder if you're triggering the SSL loan boost with nearly paid off loans, but uh, typically no, adding multiple loans to your profile doesn't typically result in a 40 point increase in FICO 8

Re: FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts

Dilbert934 — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 18:35:52 GMT

Small. All three were in the $150 range on their Pay In 4 plan. They're just being paid off on my CC every 2 weeks for 8 weeks.

Re: FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts

james58henry — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 08:42:38 GMT

@Dilbert934 wrote:
Made a few small purchases and figured I'd do the Affirm Pay In 4 since I could use their money for 2 months. A few weeks later I got a notice of a new tradeline. My first thought was "**bleep**, I guess they started reporting to CRAs."

A few days later I get an alert my score had incresed. FICO 8 went from 790 to 830 and Fico 9 went from 801 to 846.

Would these installment accounts really make that much of a difference?

Hello @Dilbert934,

Yes, Affirm Pay in 4 can impact your FICO score, especially if reported as a new tradeline. The increase is likely due to positive payment history and credit mix diversification. However, BNPL loans can sometimes lower scores if they affect credit age or utilization. You can check more details on BNPL impact here. Let me know if you need further insights!

Best Regards,
James Henry

Re: FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts

Thomas_Thumb — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 14:51:07 GMT

If you had no open or closed loans on file, the BNPL loans will bolster your credit mix. That can certainly boost your score. Not sure that adding 3 is any better than just 1. Regardless. A 40 point gain seems excessive for adding a these loans.

Did you previously have any loans on file (open, closed or both)? Can you check for any other changes on your file? A trigger event for a score pull is not always the cause for a score change. A prior, non trigger, event may have played a role.

P.S. These 4 payment installment loans are often 0% interest. At least the Klarna ones advirtised on Ebay are. Was that the case with your loans?

OP, please report back when these mini loans are all paid off and closed. Curious if score will change.

Perhaps CFAs are being overly villianized as hurting score, atleast those with 0% interest.

Re: FICO 8 jumped 40 points after adding 3 Affirm Pay in 4 installment accounts

FicoMike0 — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 21:33:29 GMT

It would be interesting to know how these are reported, 50/150 would be 33%. If they somehow reported 9%, they would trigger the ssl trick effect.