What is Afterpay Plus?
So, if you’re familiar, with basic functions and instruments of Afterpay, Afterpay Plus might be a new discovery for you. It’s a subscription offered by the company that will cost you $9.99 per month. This program’s main goal is to link your Afterpay account to the biggest mobile payment systems that you’ve probably used before – Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. As well, it allows subscribers to use their Afterpay at any store that accepts these mobile payments, even if these stores don’t have specifically an Afterpay option.
To subscribe, a user has to follow next requirements:
- to have an Afterpay account that is active for at least for 42 days
- to have at least two successful purchases.
Customers that follow the requirements are invited to join the waitlist for the new service.
Fees associated with Afterpay Plus
If you’re considering upgrading your account to Afterpay Plus, you’re probably wondering what it might cost you. Let’s have a quick look at the table made by our experts that sums it up:
| Fee Type | Amount |
| Monthly subscription cost | $9.99 per month |
| Interest charges | No interest charges, but capped late fees apply (Initial Late Fee: $10, Subsequent Late Fee: $7) |
| Unsubscription penalty | Banned from the service for 12 months |
| Merchant processing fee | 6% + 30¢ (excluding GST) per Afterpay order across all Square products |
At the time of purchase, merchants receive the full amount less processing fee on the total order.
Differences between Afterpay Plus and other BNPL services
While other BNPL services such as Affirm require more substantial customer information and credit checks to authorize purchases, Afterpay Plus carries out minimal checks on whether a transaction is right for a user’s finances. Affirm charges interest on loans; whereas, with Afterpay, you can get interest-free instalment plans. With just a minimum check, this makes it more accessible than other BNPL services because Afterpay Plus extends almost all retailers under its model, unlike most BNPL services.
Concerns raised by financial counsellors
Afterpay can be a very useful service, yet there are some concerns and problems of Afterpay Plus that were highlighter by users and financial experts. You might want to check those before getting an Afterpay account.
- Risk of not managing money properly: Afterpay Plus has made it easy for people to take loans out without thinking of the consequences.
- Escaping from regulation: Afterpay does not check people’s financial states before giving them a loan, which is a positive and a negative side of this service, since it can put vulnerable users into more debts, creating an unsafe financial environment for them.
- Crippling cancellations: Users, that decided to unsubscribe from this service, will not be able to use it for another year, which was made for users to not unsubscribe.
- Not fair monthly charge: Financial counsellors and users complain about the program getting worse after years of existing – for its money, the service does not provide you as many bonuses and rewards as it used to.
Overall
Further, through its platform called “Afterpay Plus”, Afterpay has provided another way for customers on its site as well as several affiliated businesses to get instalment loans at different retailers. However, all these factors; accessibility, absence of regulatory oversight and a subscription fee have led many financial counsellors as well as consumer advocates concerned about escalating financial distress mainly among weak consumers. As the BNPL sector continues to evolve, there are growing calls for stronger consumer protections to ensure that innovation in this space does not come at the cost of people’s financial wellbeing.