go to askmrcreditcard.com home page
menu-nav menu-nav

Perpay vs Afterpay

REVIEW
 
 
REVIEW
 
 
Payment Methods
Payment to Perpay comes directly from payroll direct deposit
Pay-in-4
Monthly Payment
Terms
Up to 6 months (you choose the length of payment)
6 or 12 months for Monthly Payment Option
APR
0%
0% for Pay-in-4
6.99% to 35.99% for Monthly Payment Option
Credit Bureau Reporting
TransUnion, Equifax and Experian
Does not report to credit bureaus
By : Mr Credit Card

Afterpay is a standard BNPL whereas Perpay is slightly different

Afterpay is one of the earlier pioneers in the Buy Now Pay Later space and has led the way in the Pay-in-4 payment option that is so popular.

Perpay started in 2017 and became one of the rare BNPL apps to actually reports to all three credit bureaus. Perpay is better than Afterpay primarily because they report your payments to all three major credit bureaus.


What is Perpay?

Perpay is a Buy Now Pay Later app and marketplace with many partners where you can make purchases on many branded products. Perpay allows you to pay off your purchases over 6 months (or shorter) at 0% interest rate. This is different from the standard Pay-in-4 payment option that most BNPL app offers. Unlike other BNPL apps, Perpay requires that you split your payroll direct deposit such that you pay your installments to Perpay directly from your payroll. This reduces Perpay's risk but also prevents you from any late payment and default. You can either ask your HR department to do this for you or get Perpay to do the direct deposit split for you. Because of this policy, Perpay requires you to have at least 3 months of employment to approve you despite them not doing any hard inquiries or relying on FICO scores.

Unlike most other BNPL apps, Perpay reports to all three major credit bureaus. You would have to enroll in Perpay+, which will cost $3/month. Perpay users who enroll in Perpay+ will also be able to get their Mastercard, which is a rewards card that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted. This is different from most other BNPL apps, which offers only Virtual cards.

What is Afterpay?

Afterpay is one of the earliest Buy Now Pay Later apps that was first introduced in 2014. They offer the standard Pay-in-4 payment plan as well as a monthly payment plan. The Pay-in-4 payment option is interest free. The monthly payment plan allows you to pay for your purchases in either 6 months or 12 months. Interest rate will range from 6.99% to 35.99%.

Afterpay offers a virtual card called the Afterpay card which can be added to your digital wallet and used in-store with retailers that accept Perpay.

Unlike Perpay, Afterpay does not report to any credit bureaus.


Similarities

  • Monthly Payment Option - Both Perpay and Afterpay offer monthly pay options. In Perpay's case, they only have monthly option whereas Afterpay also has the standard Pay-in-4 option.

  • No Hard Inquiries - Both Afterpay and Perpay do not perform hard inquiries on your credit report. Having said that, Perpay has explicit income requirements for you to be approved.


Differences

Perpay is different from Afterpay in quite significant ways.

Perpay reports to credit bureaus

The first major difference between between Perpay and Afterpay is that Perpay reports to all three major credit bureaus. You do have to enroll in Perpay+ and it will cost you $3/month. In contrast, Afterpay does not report your payments to credit bureaus when you pay on time. Instead, they will report when you pay late!

Perpays requires you to pay them directly from your payroll

Perpay requires you to split your payroll direct deposit and pay them directly from your payroll. Afterpay has no such requirements.

Different Payment Options

Afterpay has more traditional BNPL payment options. They offer both the standard Pay-in-4 and monthly payment option.

Perpays payment plan allows you to choose your term (up to 6 months). But payment frequency is based on how often you are paid since your payment to Perpay has to come out of your payroll. So you could have a bi-weekly or monthly payment plan with Perpay.

Perpay has employment requirements

Perpay requires you to have employment for at least 3 months and be paid via direct deposit for Perpay to approve you.

Both have different card versions

While you can use both Perpay and Afterpay from their app, they both offer cards as well. In Afterpay's case, they offer a virtual card which you can download to your digital wallet and use it in-store at places that has partnered with Afterpay.

Perpay offers a proper physical Mastercard which you can use anywhere Mastercard is used.


Ways Perpay is better?

Perpay is better than Afterpay in a couple of ways. Firstly, Perpay reports to all three major credit bureaus (though you would have to pay $3/month for subscription to Perpay+) to enable this service. Secondly, since Perpay's installment is paid directly from your payroll direct deposit, you run almost no risk of ever being late and this instills some financial discipline. Thirdly, Perpay's interest rate is 0% even if you choose to pay over 6 months. In contrast, if you opt for the monthly payment option in Afterpay, you will be charged an interest rate as the 0% rate only applies to the Pay-in-4 option.

Perpay also has a proper Mastercard for their users to apply for whereas Afterpay simply has a virtual card that can only be used at their partner stores.


Ways Afterpay is better

Afterpay is better than Perpay in that you do not have to split your payroll direct deposit. It also offers a very common pay-in-4 payment option that Perpay does not offer (though Perpay allows their customers to choose their payment terms for up to 6 months).


Which is Better? Perpay or Afterpay?

If you simply want to get a regular Buy Now Pay Later app to pay for your purchase over 4 payments (6 weeks) at 0% interest, then you might want to consider Afterpay over Perpay.

But if building your credit history is important to you, or if you want a slightly longer period to pay for your product and still enjoy a 0% interest rate, then Perpay is the better choice. You do have to set up your payroll direct deposit such that you pay your Perpay installments directly. If you are willing to do that, the Perpay is definitely better than Afterpay.

Perpay users can also apply for their Mastercard with no hard inquiries once they are a Perpay+ member. Those looking for an unsecured credit card with no hard inquires might want to consider getting Perpay first as a means to getting this card.