Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) providers offer flexible and interest-free payment options to your learners, making your offering more affordable and lowering the barrier for them to purchase. By giving your learners the ability to pay in instalments—at no risk to you—you’ll see an increase in purchases from customers who could not have otherwise bought from you.
Thinkific transactions made with BNPL have an average order value more than three times higher than transactions made with cards! So while there is a higher fee on BNPL transactions (learn more below), you'll see an increase in conversions and sales from a brand new audience with new buying power made possible with BNPL.
This feature, and other TCommerce selling tools, are only available when using Thinkific Payments as your primary payment processor.
Get started with Thinkific Payments by clicking below:
In this article:
About This Feature
Creators on TCommerce: Powered by Thinkific Payments* can leverage Buy Now, Pay Later payment methods.
*in Thinkific Payment-supported countries
Providing BNPL as a payment option to your Learners offer you:
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Increased sales & business growth
Thinkific transactions made with BNPL have an average order value of more than three times higher than transactions made with cards because learners have access to a convenient form of credit, which can lead to more sales.
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Stronger buying power for your audience
By giving your learners the ability to pay in installments, you’re giving them additional buying power, and you’ll see an increase in purchases from customers who could not have otherwise bought from you.
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Reduced staffing needs
Offering payment plans through a BNPL provider can reduce the need for additional staff to follow up on failed payments, as the provider handles payment collection and processing.
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Lower capital requirements
With BNPL, you receive the payment right away, while Learners have the option to pay over time. This can free up capital that can be invested in marketing, advertising, or staffing, rather than being tied up in outstanding account receivables.
Promote BNPL to Your Audience
Here are 3 easy ways you can promote BNPL to attract new learners, increase sales, and enhance the overall learner experience
- Add a banner to your website that tells learners you now offer BNPL payment methods
- Tell your audience about it on your social channels
- Let your audience know via mass user email
“Something I didn’t expect is that, by offering Buy Now, Pay Later payment methods to my audience, my students actually feel more seen and heard. I feel my students are grateful that I’m supporting them by being more inclusive with additional payment options.”
- Mina Irfan, Founder, The Universe Guru
How BNPL Works
Once you have set up your account with Thinkific Payments, you will gain instant access to the suite of features that TCommerce has to offer — including Buy Now, Pay Later payment options.
Learners will see the option to complete their purchase with interest-free installments with a BNPL provider during checkout. When they choose a BNPL provider, they will be directed to the BNPL provider's website to create an account using their mobile number or email address before completing the purchase.
You will be able to see which BNPL provider a learner used to purchase your product through the Orders Table or Transactions Table. When a learner purchases using a BNPL provider, you will receive the full transaction amount in your bank account via Thinkific Payments, just like credit card transactions.
Currently, all BNPL options (Klarna, Afterpay/Clearpay) will not appear if you are selling products in a currency different from the currency of your country or if your location and student's location differ.
Supported Providers
Thinkific Payments supports Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) through Afterpay/Clearpay and Klarna. At checkout, learners will only see the BNPL options available in their country
In AU, CA, NZ and the US, consumers know Afterpay as ‘Afterpay’. In the UK, they know it as ‘Clearpay’.
| Provider | Customer Country | Repayment Options | Transaction Limit |
| Afterpay/Clearpay | Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States | 4 interest-free payments over 6 weeks |
Thresholds for domestic transactions:
Thresholds for cross-border transactions:
|
| Klarna | Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States |
Pay in 3 or 4 interest-free installments Pay in full in 14 or 30 days Pay outright with stored payment details Monthly payments for up to 36 months |
10 USD minimum or local equivalent. (5,000 USD+ for financing possible; maximum varies by customer) |
Affirm Availability
As of February 27, 2026 Affirm is no longer available as a Buy Now Pay Later option atcheckout. This decision is due to a change from Affirm that affects all Thinkific customers.
If you have used Affirm in the past, this change does not impact your existing orders, and no action is required on your end. Eligible businesses and their customers will be able to pay with BNPL through Afterpay or Klarna, two widely used providers that many buyers already know and trust. These options will continue to show up automatically at checkout for eligible orders.
See answers to frequently asked questions below.
My customer specifically wants Affirm. Can you turn it back on for my site?
Unfortunately not. Affirm is no longer available on Thinkific, and our team cannot re-enable it for individual sites. The alternative options are Afterpay and Klarna, which are two widely known and trusted alternatives.
What happens to the Affirm orders that were already made on my site?
Existing orders are not affected, as a full, upfront payment would have been paid to you by Affirm at the time of the purchase. Affirm, in turn, assumes the risk and responsibility of collecting those funds from your students.
Will this affect refunds for past Affirm purchases?
No. Refunds for purchases made with Affirm will continue to follow the same process as before. Affirm handled the payment and repayment for those orders, so the buyer’s repayment remains managed by Affirm.
If you experience any errors when processing refunds for past Affirm orders, please reach out to our Support team.
Transaction Fees
BNPL providers can only be used as a payment method for one-time payments.
It is not available for subscriptions or payment plans.
| Creator Country/Region | Transaction Fee |
|
United States Canada Australia New Zealand |
6.5% + $0.30 per transaction |
| European Union | 6.5% + €0.25 per transaction, with no other additional fees |
| United Kingdom | 6.5% + £0.20 per transaction |
Processing Refunds
| Provider | Refund Eligibility | Refund Process |
| Afterpay/Clearpay | Afterpay supports full or partial refunds for charges up to 180 days after the original payment. | Refunds for Afterpay payments are asynchronous. |
| Klarna | Klarna supports full or partial refunds for up to 180 days after the initial payment is completed. | Klarna cancels any remaining payments on a refunded charge and returns the already-paid amount to the customer. Refunds usually take 5-7 business days to complete but may take longer depending on the customer’s financial institution and the type of purchase. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a learner pays late?
If a learner misses a payment, you will not be impacted nor responsible for trying to recoup the missed payments.
Can I disable these payment options?
If you’d like to turn off these payment options, please follow the instructions here.
Why is this payment method enabled by default?
Buy Now, Pay Later options are another tool available in the suite of tools TCommerce offers! This means that for all TCommerce users, you automatically get access to new and innovative features, first. BNPL can only be turned on and off per site but not by product. If you’d like to turn off this feature, please follow the instructions here.
Can learners apply coupons prior to utilizing a BNPL payment provider?
Yes, learners can apply coupons prior to utilizing a BNPL payment provider.
Can learners utilize a BNPL payment provider to purchase a pre-order product?
Yes, learners can utilize a BNPL payment provider to purchase a pre-order product.
Why do BNPL options not show on my checkout page?
BNPL options will not appear if:
- Your BNPL option is turned off: follow these instructions to turn them on
- A learner is located in a country where none of the supported providers are available
- Your country and student's location country differ*
- If you are selling products in a currency different from the currency of your country
- The product being offered is not sold as a one-time payment
- The transaction is not within transaction limits
- Local currency at checkout is enabled
These are BNPL provider limitations that currently cannot be modified.
Where can I see what transactions used BNPL?
You will be able to see which BNPL provider a learner used to purchase your product through the Orders Table or Transactions Table. Additionally, you can use the TCommerce Feature = BNPL filter in the Revenue Dashboard to analyze the transactions that used BNPL.
Why is BNPL not available when local currency at checkout is turned on?
At the moment, Buy Now, Pay Later payment methods will not display if local currency at checkout is enabled. Even when a buyer selects your default currency, the BNPL methods will not appear.