In a world of Lifetime free cards, are bnpl services worth keeping?

[the_collector]

Hi All,

I've been on a spree closing all my bnpl accounts.

There was a time when these bnpl services offered discounts and cashbacks just like credit cards do ( not to the same extent but still good enough).

Now I find it extremely difficult to find offers and i always end up paying by my credit card instead.

This made me think, are bnpl service really worth keeping active?

Is the ease of transacting more beneficial than the discount/cashback you could get from a credit card?

Especially, when credit cards are so much more lucrative with their discounts and cashbacks.

Moreover, many bnpl services report to credit bureaus, which show up as active loans in their respective fields.

Here are some of the bnpl services I had and ended up closing:

1. Ola money postpaid plus - It started out great, offers on every cab ride I would take, I used to also get a lot of offers through movies and swiggy/Zomato using this. They've just disappeared. Everytime I need to use ola , I simply pay by cash or I have my card linked.

2. Lazy pay:
Same as above, I don't see any offers anymore and find it difficult to find a use case for it.

3. Flipkart pay later: I have the SBI cashback CB and fk axis, both offer 5% on my spends. Find no use for this.

4. Paytm postpaid: similar story to 1 and 2, they use to give offers for pvr bookings and sometimes for food, but rarely seen anything that is of actual benefit in recent times.

5. Slice and postpe: Slice used to give the best offers hand down before RBI came hounding on them. One of my first credit lines and I used it extensively before they changed the entire model.

6. Mobikwik pay later: I don't know why I opened this. Never used it. Closed.

The only active one I have currently is SIMPL.
I see plenty offers going about and find it convenient at times to pay via SIMPL on swiggy and Zomato. More importantly, SIMPL does NOT report to the credit bureaus which is a huge plus. Unless things change drastically, I won't be closing this one.

For individuals that find it difficult to get their hands on credit cards, I can see the benefits of having a bnpl service active. However for ones that have multiple credit cards, I find it very difficult to justify keeping them open.

I would like to know if you guys have any bnpl services active and what is your use case for them?

 

[Vasuki]

Hi All,

I've been on a spree closing all my bnpl accounts.

There was a time when these bnpl services offered discounts and cashbacks just like credit cards do ( not to the same extent but still good enough).

Now I find it extremely difficult to find offers and i always end up paying by my credit card instead.

This made me think, are bnpl service really worth keeping active?

Is the ease of transacting more beneficial than the discount/cashback you could get from a credit card?

Especially, when credit cards are so much more lucrative with their discounts and cashbacks.

Moreover, many bnpl services report to credit bureaus, which show up as active loans in their respective fields.

Here are some of the bnpl services I had and ended up closing:

1. Ola money postpaid plus - It started out great, offers on every cab ride I would take, I used to also get a lot of offers through movies and swiggy/Zomato using this. They've just disappeared. Everytime I need to use ola , I simply pay by cash or I have my card linked.

2. Lazy pay:
Same as above, I don't see any offers anymore and find it difficult to find a use case for it.

3. Flipkart pay later: I have the SBI cashback CB and fk axis, both offer 5% on my spends. Find no use for this.

4. Paytm postpaid: similar story to 1 and 2, they use to give offers for pvr bookings and sometimes for food, but rarely seen anything that is of actual benefit in recent times.

5. Slice and postpe: Slice used to give the best offers hand down before RBI came hounding on them. One of my first credit lines and I used it extensively before they changed the entire model.

6. Mobikwik pay later: I don't know why I opened this. Never used it. Closed.

The only active one I have currently is SIMPL.
I see plenty offers going about and find it convenient at times to pay via SIMPL on swiggy and Zomato. More importantly, SIMPL does NOT report to the credit bureaus which is a huge plus. Unless things change drastically, I won't be closing this one.

For individuals that find it difficult to get their hands on credit cards, I can see the benefits of having a bnpl service active. However for ones that have multiple credit cards, I find it very difficult to justify keeping them open.

I would like to know if you guys have any bnpl services active and what is your use case for them?

Everyone already closed those you mentioned a year ago.

 

[the_collector]

Everyone already closed those you mentioned a year ago.

Haha, I too did , most of them.

Had only ola money pp+ active from the above in the hope that things would go back to how they were. But recently closed that too.

Trying to understand if anybody who holds credit cards has a use case for any bnpl service that can be more rewarding or beneficial than actually using the card for the transaction.

 

[Vasuki]

Haha, I too did , most of them.

Had only ola money pp+ active from the above in the hope that things would go back to how they were. But recently closed that too.

Trying to understand if anybody who holds credit cards has a use case for any bnpl service that can be more rewarding or beneficial than actually using the card for the transaction.

Yes
Two were useful - if u have low limit u can buy emi product from Flipkart

2 - Paytm postpaid if u had zero charges


Else everything is no use .
For simpl now people' won't use bcz it might get reported in cibil
But still not affiliated to any nbfc or banks

 

[SSV]

Hi All,

I've been on a spree closing all my bnpl accounts.

There was a time when these bnpl services offered discounts and cashbacks just like credit cards do ( not to the same extent but still good enough).

Now I find it extremely difficult to find offers and i always end up paying by my credit card instead.

This made me think, are bnpl service really worth keeping active?

Is the ease of transacting more beneficial than the discount/cashback you could get from a credit card?

Especially, when credit cards are so much more lucrative with their discounts and cashbacks.

Moreover, many bnpl services report to credit bureaus, which show up as active loans in their respective fields.

Here are some of the bnpl services I had and ended up closing:

1. Ola money postpaid plus - It started out great, offers on every cab ride I would take, I used to also get a lot of offers through movies and swiggy/Zomato using this. They've just disappeared. Everytime I need to use ola , I simply pay by cash or I have my card linked.

2. Lazy pay:
Same as above, I don't see any offers anymore and find it difficult to find a use case for it.

3. Flipkart pay later: I have the SBI cashback CB and fk axis, both offer 5% on my spends. Find no use for this.

4. Paytm postpaid: similar story to 1 and 2, they use to give offers for pvr bookings and sometimes for food, but rarely seen anything that is of actual benefit in recent times.

5. Slice and postpe: Slice used to give the best offers hand down before RBI came hounding on them. One of my first credit lines and I used it extensively before they changed the entire model.

6. Mobikwik pay later: I don't know why I opened this. Never used it. Closed.

The only active one I have currently is SIMPL.
I see plenty offers going about and find it convenient at times to pay via SIMPL on swiggy and Zomato. More importantly, SIMPL does NOT report to the credit bureaus which is a huge plus. Unless things change drastically, I won't be closing this one.

For individuals that find it difficult to get their hands on credit cards, I can see the benefits of having a bnpl service active. However for ones that have multiple credit cards, I find it very difficult to justify keeping them open.

I would like to know if you guys have any bnpl services active and what is your use case for them?

I didn't read your post at all..
I only read thread title...
My views:
1) BNPL is a garbage product to start with from the beginning.. it is only helpful for those who can't get any other credit line products
2) they are harmful for your Cibil score.
3) even for those who can't get any Unsecured CC, you are better off taking a secured CC against FD for 10K or so.. this way you will be building a nice credit history..
4) Just close all BNPLs at ince and make sure they are reported as closed in cibil and enjoy CCing and build nice credit profile.. 👍

PS: here, You = anyone

 

[karan_hdl]

Actually BNPL supplements a credit card & vice versa..each BNPL service has unique set of purpose for me personally..

I use Simpl and Lazy pay for all food and grocery orders regularly via Swiggy and Zomato and at times for dineout orders and get decent platform discounts.. Both have 15 days billing cycle and it helps me to push credit card billing cycle to and fro.. i.e. For first 15 days monthly spends I clear Lazypay and Simpl dues using credit card by that way I gain neatly 2 months time to clear the BNPL spends particularly for Simpl and Lazypay...

I use Mobikwik Zip for mobile recharge & all kinds of bill payments including credit card Minimum dues and with supercash there will be some worthy discounts at times..

Paytm Postpaid before RBI imposing restriction I can use it at almost every small merchant and get some worthy to mention vouchers at times helpful..

Amazon and Flipkart Pay later were more useful within their own platforms and sometimes there is some shorterm no cost EMI options.. and in the case of Amazon Paylater, beyond Amazon spends, due to ease of doing payment it's useful for online medicine orders, gas cylinder payments etc..

For those salaried persons with very minimum amount of cash in the bank account BNPL is a great boon as it's truly a 0% interest and a kind of loan with shorter repayment window thus balancing out too much of credit card spending and fill the cash crunch gap in a way supplementing credit card...

 

[the_collector]

Actually BNPL supplements a credit card & vice versa..each BNPL service has unique set of purpose for me personally..

I use Simpl and Lazy pay for all food and grocery orders regularly via Swiggy and Zomato and at times for dineout orders and get decent platform discounts.. Both have 15 days billing cycle and it helps me to push credit card billing cycle to and fro.. i.e. For first 15 days monthly spends I clear Lazypay and Simpl dues using credit card by that way I gain neatly 2 months time to clear the BNPL spends particularly for Simpl and Lazypay...

I use Mobikwik Zip for mobile recharge & all kinds of bill payments including credit card Minimum dues and with supercash there will be some worthy discounts at times..

Paytm Postpaid before RBI imposing restriction I can use it at almost every small merchant and get some worthy to mention vouchers at times helpful..

Amazon and Flipkart Pay later were more useful within their own platforms and sometimes there is some shorterm no cost EMI options.. and in the case of Amazon Paylater, beyond Amazon spends, due to ease of doing payment it's useful for online medicine orders, gas cylinder payments etc..

For those salaried persons with very minimum amount of cash in the bank account BNPL is a great boon as it's truly a 0% interest and a kind of loan with shorter repayment window thus balancing out too much of credit card spending and fill the cash crunch gap in a way supplementing credit card...

I don't quite agree with you on these points.

Firstly, with lazypay and simpl, in order to pay by credit card, the platforms are charging a fee that seems to high for me. On top of that, with the cards I have , I almost always get a bank discount or with the cashback sbi (5%) back which is why I would never use lazypay or simpl for Zomato or swiggy. There are cases where simpl runs offers on these platforms and only those times I use it.

The benefit of extending the credit period is lost if I have to pay charges to clear my lazypay/simpl bill.

Mobikwik zip, I still think cards like axis ace are much more beneficial. Offer more discounts on payments than this. Even the Amazon pay GV route through SBI CB is better.

Paytm postpaid is dead now, just functions as a credit line. I don't remember seeing a single offer for it recently.

For Amazon I would use the Amazon pay icici card anyday over paylater. Direct cashbacks for almost all transactions. And no cost emi on almost everything with the card.

I agree with your last statement, that ease of use and access is probably the only reason one might choose to keep it.

Otherwise with no offers and discounts being offered, I find it difficult justifying them.

 

[Riya]

Hi All,

I've been on a spree closing all my bnpl accounts.

There was a time when these bnpl services offered discounts and cashbacks just like credit cards do ( not to the same extent but still good enough).

Now I find it extremely difficult to find offers and i always end up paying by my credit card instead.

This made me think, are bnpl service really worth keeping active?

Is the ease of transacting more beneficial than the discount/cashback you could get from a credit card?

Especially, when credit cards are so much more lucrative with their discounts and cashbacks.

Moreover, many bnpl services report to credit bureaus, which show up as active loans in their respective fields.

Here are some of the bnpl services I had and ended up closing:

1. Ola money postpaid plus - It started out great, offers on every cab ride I would take, I used to also get a lot of offers through movies and swiggy/Zomato using this. They've just disappeared. Everytime I need to use ola , I simply pay by cash or I have my card linked.

2. Lazy pay:
Same as above, I don't see any offers anymore and find it difficult to find a use case for it.

3. Flipkart pay later: I have the SBI cashback CB and fk axis, both offer 5% on my spends. Find no use for this.

4. Paytm postpaid: similar story to 1 and 2, they use to give offers for pvr bookings and sometimes for food, but rarely seen anything that is of actual benefit in recent times.

5. Slice and postpe: Slice used to give the best offers hand down before RBI came hounding on them. One of my first credit lines and I used it extensively before they changed the entire model.

6. Mobikwik pay later: I don't know why I opened this. Never used it. Closed.

The only active one I have currently is SIMPL.
I see plenty offers going about and find it convenient at times to pay via SIMPL on swiggy and Zomato. More importantly, SIMPL does NOT report to the credit bureaus which is a huge plus. Unless things change drastically, I won't be closing this one.

For individuals that find it difficult to get their hands on credit cards, I can see the benefits of having a bnpl service active. However for ones that have multiple credit cards, I find it very difficult to justify keeping them open.

I would like to know if you guys have any bnpl services active and what is your use case for them?

good decision.....
close SIMPL too.... as simple as that...
BNPL accounts are shown as personal/consumer loan in cibil report.... so even worse

 

[the_collector]

good decision.....
close SIMPL too.... as simple as that...
BNPL accounts are shown as personal/consumer loan in cibil report.... so even worse

Simpl doesn't report to credit bureaus.

That's a huge plus, and I also get timely discounts on swiggy and Zomato which serve my purpose.

I'll be holding on to it until that stops xD

 

[karan_hdl]

I don't quite agree with you on these points.

Firstly, with lazypay and simpl, in order to pay by credit card, the platforms are charging a fee that seems to high for me. On top of that, with the cards I have , I almost always get a bank discount or with the cashback sbi (5%) back which is why I would never use lazypay or simpl for Zomato or swiggy. There are cases where simpl runs offers on these platforms and only those times I use it.

The benefit of extending the credit period is lost if I have to pay charges to clear my lazypay/simpl bill.

Mobikwik zip, I still think cards like axis ace are much more beneficial. Offer more discounts on payments than this. Even the Amazon pay GV route through SBI CB is better.

Paytm postpaid is dead now, just functions as a credit line. I don't remember seeing a single offer for it recently.

For Amazon I would use the Amazon pay icici card anyday over paylater. Direct cashbacks for almost all transactions. And no cost emi on almost everything with the card.

I agree with your last statement, that ease of use and access is probably the only reason one might choose to keep it.

Otherwise with no offers and discounts being offered, I find it difficult justifying them.

I haven't elaborated fully on what I thought I guess,
That is If I have a pay later dues (all BNPL Services put together) of say for example 10,000/- by the end of the month I pay it fully from my Salary in a way that helps me to reduce my over-reliance on credit cards,
and in the first 15 days of the month if I use SIMPL and Lazypay I will get bills immediately to be paid within the 20th of the same month and at that point I won't have much cash in my bank account to clear it, So I use my primary Credit Card to clear it and the billing cycle as I said will be pushed to the next month,
and I earn some credit points which calculates as (1 point = 1 re) which to an extent offset the convenience fee for making payment via Credit Card..
Apart from discounts the main thing is a part of my credit services dues getting repaid sooner gives me an optimistic view towards BNPL services and I don't in any way compare and say it's better than credit cards..

 

[maheshspanicker]

I only have Amazon Paylater that I have hardly used since I have the Amazon Pay ICICI card. The only reason I haven't closed it yet is because of the rather taxing process of clossing it. Any way it can be closed online?

 

[pothi]

I can't speak for all BNPL cards. However, Amazon Pay Later gets a thumbs up from me for its ability to configure auto-debit (via eNACH). Good choice for someone who is new to credits / loans in general and for those who run on paycheck to paycheck. My friend's family uses it regularly / efficiently (particularly towards the end of the month) and gets their due settled upon the salary is credited.

On the other hand, I have Amazon Pay ICICI CC that is yet to be configured for auto-pay as I don't have an ICICI SB account. So, I use it only for regular fixed payments (such as Kindle subscription) and let the dues gets settled via a recurring transfer of funds through another bank account.

 

[the_collector]

I only have Amazon Paylater that I have hardly used since I have the Amazon Pay ICICI card. The only reason I haven't closed it yet is because of the rather taxing process of clossing it. Any way it can be closed online?

Found this on one of the old threads, you can try and see if it works:

If your lender is Axio then email to

Axio Support Emails

Level 1: ask@axio.co.in

Level 2: customersuccess@axio.co.in

Level 3: head.customersuccess@axio.co.in

Level 4: askcompliance@axio.co.in

Level 5: cms.cepcbengaluru@rbi.org.in or cms.nbfcochennai@rbi.org.in

Principal Nodal Officer: aakanksha.singh@axio.co.in

 

[the_collector]

I can't speak for all BNPL cards. However, Amazon Pay Later gets a thumbs up from me for its ability to configure auto-debit (via eNACH). Good choice for someone who is new to credits / loans in general and for those who run on paycheck to paycheck. My friend's family uses it regularly / efficiently (particularly towards the end of the month) and gets their due settled upon the salary is credited.

On the other hand, I have Amazon Pay ICICI CC that is yet to be configured for auto-pay as I don't have an ICICI SB account. So, I use it only for regular fixed payments (such as Kindle subscription) and let the dues gets settled via a recurring transfer of funds through another bank account.

I agree, for someone that's new to credit, BNPL services bring that discipline.

However, once you start fully utilising the apay icici card and realise that you can get 5% back on almost all your transactions, you'll stop using pay later.

A tip: in case you forget about your bill dates, use cred or Paytm. They have bill reminders that can help you with this.

 

[Zacobite]

Hi All,

I've been on a spree closing all my bnpl accounts.

There was a time when these bnpl services offered discounts and cashbacks just like credit cards do ( not to the same extent but still good enough).

Now I find it extremely difficult to find offers and i always end up paying by my credit card instead.

This made me think, are bnpl service really worth keeping active?

Is the ease of transacting more beneficial than the discount/cashback you could get from a credit card?

Especially, when credit cards are so much more lucrative with their discounts and cashbacks.

Moreover, many bnpl services report to credit bureaus, which show up as active loans in their respective fields.

Here are some of the bnpl services I had and ended up closing:

1. Ola money postpaid plus - It started out great, offers on every cab ride I would take, I used to also get a lot of offers through movies and swiggy/Zomato using this. They've just disappeared. Everytime I need to use ola , I simply pay by cash or I have my card linked.

2. Lazy pay:
Same as above, I don't see any offers anymore and find it difficult to find a use case for it.

3. Flipkart pay later: I have the SBI cashback CB and fk axis, both offer 5% on my spends. Find no use for this.

4. Paytm postpaid: similar story to 1 and 2, they use to give offers for pvr bookings and sometimes for food, but rarely seen anything that is of actual benefit in recent times.

5. Slice and postpe: Slice used to give the best offers hand down before RBI came hounding on them. One of my first credit lines and I used it extensively before they changed the entire model.

6. Mobikwik pay later: I don't know why I opened this. Never used it. Closed.

The only active one I have currently is SIMPL.
I see plenty offers going about and find it convenient at times to pay via SIMPL on swiggy and Zomato. More importantly, SIMPL does NOT report to the credit bureaus which is a huge plus. Unless things change drastically, I won't be closing this one.

For individuals that find it difficult to get their hands on credit cards, I can see the benefits of having a bnpl service active. However for ones that have multiple credit cards, I find it very difficult to justify keeping them open.

I would like to know if you guys have any bnpl services active and what is your use case for them?

never used any

 

[tghige14]

Found this on one of the old threads, you can try and see if it works:

If your lender is Axio then email to

Axio Support Emails

Level 1: ask@axio.co.in

Level 2: customersuccess@axio.co.in

Level 3: head.customersuccess@axio.co.in

Level 4: askcompliance@axio.co.in

Level 5: cms.cepcbengaluru@rbi.org.in or cms.nbfcochennai@rbi.org.in

Principal Nodal Officer: aakanksha.singh@axio.co.in

My Amazon Pay Later is divided in two different lenders. 20% in Axio and 80% in Karur Vysya Bank. So how do I proceed with this ? Do I have to reach out to both the lenders?

 

[BeingIncog]

My Amazon Pay Later is divided in two different lenders. 20% in Axio and 80% in Karur Vysya Bank. So how do I proceed with this ? Do I have to reach out to both the lenders?

no, just one that is Axio

 

[iamdhamo]

I closed all. Had only simpl cos they allowed payment via cc without convenience fee and once they started convenience fee for bill payment via cc I stopped using it. Recently they asked to update kyc with pan so I guess it might be coming up in cibil report. Hence I uninstalled as I don't find it useful now a days

 

[Pack_of_Cards]

Hi All,

I've been on a spree closing all my bnpl accounts.

There was a time when these bnpl services offered discounts and cashbacks just like credit cards do ( not to the same extent but still good enough).

Now I find it extremely difficult to find offers and i always end up paying by my credit card instead.

This made me think, are bnpl service really worth keeping active?

Is the ease of transacting more beneficial than the discount/cashback you could get from a credit card?

Especially, when credit cards are so much more lucrative with their discounts and cashbacks.

Moreover, many bnpl services report to credit bureaus, which show up as active loans in their respective fields.

Here are some of the bnpl services I had and ended up closing:

1. Ola money postpaid plus - It started out great, offers on every cab ride I would take, I used to also get a lot of offers through movies and swiggy/Zomato using this. They've just disappeared. Everytime I need to use ola , I simply pay by cash or I have my card linked.

2. Lazy pay:
Same as above, I don't see any offers anymore and find it difficult to find a use case for it.

3. Flipkart pay later: I have the SBI cashback CB and fk axis, both offer 5% on my spends. Find no use for this.

4. Paytm postpaid: similar story to 1 and 2, they use to give offers for pvr bookings and sometimes for food, but rarely seen anything that is of actual benefit in recent times.

5. Slice and postpe: Slice used to give the best offers hand down before RBI came hounding on them. One of my first credit lines and I used it extensively before they changed the entire model.

6. Mobikwik pay later: I don't know why I opened this. Never used it. Closed.

The only active one I have currently is SIMPL.
I see plenty offers going about and find it convenient at times to pay via SIMPL on swiggy and Zomato. More importantly, SIMPL does NOT report to the credit bureaus which is a huge plus. Unless things change drastically, I won't be closing this one.

For individuals that find it difficult to get their hands on credit cards, I can see the benefits of having a bnpl service active. However for ones that have multiple credit cards, I find it very difficult to justify keeping them open.

I would like to know if you guys have any bnpl services active and what is your use case for them?

I didn't read your post at all..
I only read thread title...
My views:
1) BNPL is a garbage product to start with from the beginning.. it is only helpful for those who can't get any other credit line products
2) they are harmful for your Cibil score.
3) even for those who can't get any Unsecured CC, you are better off taking a secured CC against FD for 10K or so.. this way you will be building a nice credit history..
4) Just close all BNPLs at ince and make sure they are reported as closed in cibil and enjoy CCing and build nice credit profile.. 👍

PS: here, You = anyone

In addition to insights by @S S V, you will find a hard time dealing with these BNPL companies once they are closed/out of business. They are like mushrooms in rainy season, come and go. Once they are closed there you will find it hard to request a closure in CIBIL entry. They are good only till they last. That's the reason never used them

 

[COSMOCRAT]

Simpl doesn't report to credit bureaus.

That's a huge plus, and I also get timely discounts on swiggy and Zomato which serve my purpose.

I'll be holding on to it until that stops xD

They did. Their issuer was ICICI personal loans.