I financed my Xbox Series X console through Xbox All Access, which is a credit line offered by Citizens One with 0% APR. I only bought the console this way because at the time, that was the only stock available and I really wanted it as a "congrats on starting your first adult job" present to myself. 
I can easily afford to pay it off right now but I was planning to ride out the 0% APR just on principle, since it's essentially a free loan.
I also bought a phone recently using Affirm because it offered 0% APR for 24 months; again, I can pay if off now and could have just bought it outright, but I thought it would be a plus to take advantage of the 0% financing.
I've been spending a lot of time reading myFICO and I saw some mention that loans like Affirm look bad on my credit even though my payment history is perfect. Man, I wish I'd found you all sooner. I had no idea that buying my phone and Xbox through these loans could be a bad move.
Even if I pay these two credit lines off right now, am I basically stuck with them on my report until they age off? Should I keep paying the 0% APR payments? I have not had Affirm report to the CAs yet, but the Citizens One line is reporting to at least one agency.
This is not an issue related to my budget; the payments are very easily affordable for me, but it would also be easy to pay the items off right now. Any advice?
Mods: please move if I put this in the wrong forum. Thanks!
Gardening as of 1/15/2024
@Slowlyrebuilding wrote:What credit report is showing your Affirm loan? I've had 2 and I don't see it reporting anywhere on mine.
None are reporting the Affirm loan yet, but I just opened it less than two months ago. I read some members on MF saying that theirs were reported, but I don't remember which agency they said it was.
@tcbofade wrote:Free money is a good thing.
Sometimes, some lenders report as Consumer Finance Accounts which COULD cost you a few points on a few scoring models.
Who cares?
Free money is a good thing.
Finances are more important than Ficos.
Thanks for this, I'm also of the mind that free money is a good thing; it was hard to say no to 0% APR for something I can afford and was going to buy anyway.
Is a few points likely the only real impact to my scores? I've read people on here say these type of loans make the profile look more "risky." I won't be opening another one of these in the future if I can avoid it, but it would be good to know what kind of effects they really have on my reports (if you know).
Thanks for the insight!
@bluetomorrow wrote:
@tcbofade wrote:Free money is a good thing.
Sometimes, some lenders report as Consumer Finance Accounts which COULD cost you a few points on a few scoring models.
Who cares?
Free money is a good thing.
Finances are more important than Ficos.
Thanks for this, I'm also of the mind that free money is a good thing; it was hard to say no to 0% APR for something I can afford and was going to buy anyway.
Is a few points likely the only real impact to my scores? I've read people on here say these type of loans make the profile look more "risky." I won't be opening another one of these in the future if I can avoid it, but it would be good to know what kind of effects they really have on my reports (if you know).
Thanks for the insight!
I think that people overreact with regards to CFAs (like Affirm). There are vehicle financing companies (Honda, I think, among others) that report as CFAs. As long as you are paying your bills on time, not going excessively high with your DTI (debt to income ratio), you're going to be fine.
If I had the option of getting my car with 0% financing with a CFA, I would've done it. If I were offered a 0% refi with "Consumer Finance Accounts Which Reports to all Three CBs as a CFA" company, I'd take it. Do what's best for you (I also take those 0% deals, even when I can afford them, because I want to make that .50 in interest or whatever). Congrats on your first adult job! 
@calyx wrote:I would add, that it probably doesn't look great upon manual review if you have a whole boatload of tiny loans/CFAs/etc.
It might lead to the idea that you are financing more than you can afford or suck at managing money.
For automated metrics - each one of these accounts will contribute to aging metrics (so if you go with 5 Affirms every christmas or birthday, it will really suppress your metrics like AAoA).
So while Finances > FICOs always, I (personally) would keep the financing down to big ticket items. I am not financing my favorite bras because the amount is too small to justify the potential cost down the road (I also have an unhealthy obsession with my FICO2 score which gets super mad about new accounts).
That sounds like a good way to go! I only have the two CFAs now and don't plan on getting another anytime soon. Neither of the two I have were exactly "big ticket" at around $800 and $600 each but that is all relative, I suppose.
Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate how helpful everyone is on MyFICO!
