When you sign up with Afterpay, you book, buy or collect the item or service you want today and then pay for it in four instalments due every two weeks. This way, you get what you want without ever losing control of your money or providing personal bank details to anyone else.

If you miss a payment you won’t be able to buy or book anything else with Afterpay until you settle your account. And they will charge you a capped late fee that starts at $10 but never goes higher than 25% of the purchase price or $68 (whichever is less), to help you stick to your plan.

Before each transaction, Afterpay assesses your ability to make repayments in your short instalment plan. The longer you have been a responsible shopper with Afterpay, the more likely they will be to approve your purchase. This helps them grow a community of responsible spenders.

Before making a purchase with Afterpay, it’s important that you think about the following:

• Are there sufficient funds in your account? Generally they want to see at least the first instalment amount of the purchase price.
• How long have you been using Afterpay? They are more likely to limit you to small purchases in your first 6 weeks.
• How much do you have to repay on this purchase and do you have any previous outstanding purchases? The smaller the amount to repay, the more likely your purchase will be approved.

Afterpay is committed to ensuring their community supports responsible spending. To help, they have developed special proprietary technology to assess individual purchase applications. So while you may not know exactly how much you can spend with Afterpay at any one time, this system is vital to help you stay in control of your money and avoid missed payments wherever possible.