Work out what you can afford to pay

If you’re struggling to pay off existing BNPL purchases, work out what you can afford to pay by doing a simple budget. See more information about How to work out what you can afford to pay. 

Get organised before you reach out 

Be prepared before you contact your BNPL lender.  

Read about how to negotiate payment terms and try to have the following ready: 

• A brief description of what caused your financial hardship 

• Details of your income and main expenses (see Step 1) 

• What you can afford for repayments 

• If easily available, proof of your income, such as a Centrelink Income Statement or a recent payslip 

• If you have it, evidence of why you’re in hardship (such as a copy of a medical certificate) 

If you can’t get all this ready, don’t worry. Still reach out to discuss your situation. It is often possible to apply to reduce, reschedule or pause payments by filling out a short form via the BNPL lender’s website or using their live chat service.   

Contact your BNPL lender 

Get in touch with your BNPL lender.  Hardship contact details can usually be found at the very bottom of the lender’s website home page. 

Tell them you are in financial hardship and why you are struggling to meet your repayments. 

Ask the lender to stop any automatic payments (e.g. direct debits, recurring card debits) while they consider your hardship application. 

In most cases the BNPL lender will help you with a repayment arrangement based on what you can afford. They may be able to: 

• Stop charging you further fees (late fees, monthly fees) 

• Change repayments to an amount you can afford 

• Make longer term repayment arrangements 

• Give you a few months of making no payments so you can get back on your feet 

• Waive your debt if you are experiencing extreme hardship or have an exceptional circumstance 

Keep a record of all contact you have with your BNPL lender in relation to your request, including emails, online chats and details of any phone calls such as date, time of the calls and what was said by you and the lender’s representative. 

If the BNPL lender will not agree to an affordable repayment arrangement 

If you can’t come to an agreement that you think is fair and affordable, you can have the BNPL lender’s decision reviewed by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.  

This free and independent service gives you an opportunity to explain how, by working with your lender, you can get back on track with your BNPL payments. Refer to Dispute Resolution (Step 2).