We started regulating Deferred Payment Credit, often known as Buy Now Pay Later, on 15 July 2026.
When you shop online or in store, some businesses will offer you a Buy Now Pay Later option for your items.
There are 2 types of Buy Now Pay Later; one which charges interest (or charges interest if you don't repay in a certain timescale), and another known as Deferred Payment Credit (DPC).
DPC is an interest-free form of credit, repayable in 12 or fewer instalments, over 12 months or less.
Before 15 July 2026, DPC agreements weren’t regulated, which means lenders didn’t need to be authorised by us or follow our rules.
This has now changed. Lenders need to be authorised by us or be part of our temporary permissions regime to continue offering DPC. Find out what’s changed.
You can read more about Buy Now Pay Later on MoneyHelper.
What's regulated
DPC agreements are regulated if the lender and the supplier of goods or services are different businesses.
For example, if you buy clothing from a store, but the provider of the credit is a different business.
What's not regulated
If you buy something from a business and use DPC that's provided by that same business, it’s not regulated.
Any DPC agreement that you have taken out before 15 July 2026 will also remain unregulated. The new protections won’t apply to these agreements.
How to check a DPC lender
You can check if a lender is authorised to offer DPC on the FCA Firm Checker.
- Search for the firm by name.
- Select the service you want from the firm: ‘Borrowing money, including credit card lending and credit information’
- Check that the firm is ‘Authorised’ and has permission to 'Lend you money on an unsecured basis'.
If a lender isn’t authorised, check our register of lenders below, to find out whether it can offer DPC under our temporary permissions regime.
Lenders with temporary permission
The following lenders are registered for our temporary permission regime. This means they aren't authorised by us yet, but can provide DPC agreements.
- Access Fertility (Access Fertility Ltd)
- Cashbox (Tameside Credit Union)
- Clearpay (Clearpay Finance Ltd)
- Manchester Credit Union
- Medicred (Medicred Ltd)
- The Money Co-op (Metro Moneywise Credit Union)
- Oldham Credit Union
- PayItMonthly (PayItMonthly Ltd)
- PLIM (PLIM Ltd)
- PollenPay (PollenPay UK Ltd)
- Remedi Finance (Remedi Finance Ltd)
- Salford Credit Union Limited
- South Manchester Credit Union
- Zero Down Lease (Leasehold Finance Ltd)
- Zeropa (Zeropa Holdings Ltd)
If a lender is registered for the temporary permission regime, it has to follow our rules for any DPC agreements entered into from 15 July.
You'll also be able to see if a lender is part of the temporary permission regime on Firm Checker.
What's changed
We want our rules for DPC to reduce the risk of harm to individuals who choose to use it. Lenders need to follow these rules from 15 July 2026.
Checking you can afford to repay
We want to make sure that firms lend responsibly and affordably. So, lenders need to check whether you can afford to repay before you take out an agreement.
Information about your DPC agreements
We want you to be able to decide whether DPC is right for you. So, lenders now need to give you important information before you take out a DPC agreement.
This includes:
- The amount you'll borrow.
- When you'll need to make repayments.
- How much your repayments will be.
- How much any late fee will be
- The rights and protections you’ll have.
If you're struggling to keep up with payments
If you miss a repayment, firms need to contact you to let you know and explain what this means.
If you're struggling to make repayments, you should get in touch with your lender. Under our rules, lenders need to provide you with support.
If you're struggling with money, you can get guidance on dealing with debt from MoneyHelper. You can also use the Debt Advice Locator tool to find free services in your area.
If you need to complain
If you're unhappy with the way your DPC lender has treated you, you have the right to complain.
In the first instance, you should ask your lender to put things right. But if you're unhappy with their response, you can make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Refunds
If something goes wrong with what you've bought using DPC, you may be able to get a refund from the lender.
This is because Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act is available. This is the same protection you’d have if you used a credit card to pay instead.
