Licences, regulation and compliance

Which entity does what

Different products in our range are provided by different entities, and this matters because the protections attached to each are different.

• Short installment plans — Pay in 3, Pay in 4 and Pay Later are provided through our regulated payment institution
• Monthly financing — plans of 6 to 36 months are provided by a licensed banking partner as consumer credit
• The application form on our apply page is operated by an application partner

If you are unsure which applies to a plan you hold, the plan agreement names the provider.

Payment institution licensing

Our regulated entity holds a payment institution licence and is subject to financial supervision. In practice this brings capital requirements, conduct rules, safeguarding obligations for customer funds, and mandatory identity verification.

The identity check you complete when you sign up is a regulatory requirement rather than a design choice, which is why it cannot be skipped.

Consumer credit and disclosure

Financing of 6 to 36 months is consumer credit. That means it carries disclosures a short installment split does not.

• The annual percentage rate, the term and the total amount payable are presented before you agree
• The assessment is carried out by the banking partner and may involve a credit check
• These plans are more likely to be reported to credit bureaus than short splits

Our page on credit and pay-later explains what this means for your credit file.

State licensing in the United States

Consumer lending in the US is licensed state by state, and the products available to you can differ depending on where you live. Availability, order limits and terms shown at checkout reflect the rules applying in your state.

Anti-money laundering and identity

As a regulated payment provider we are required to verify the identity of customers and to monitor for financial crime. This is why we ask for identity documents, why an incomplete verification stops an order going through, and why we cannot process an application without it.

Safeguarding and payment security

Card details are handled under payment industry security standards rather than stored in plain form. Customer funds handled by a regulated payment institution are subject to safeguarding rules set by its supervisor.

What a genuine message from us will and will not ask for is covered on our security page.

Responsible lending

We publish what we do to keep plans manageable rather than only what we are required to.

• New accounts start with lower limits that grow with repayment history
• Late fees are capped rather than open-ended
• Rescheduling a payment before its due date is free
• New plans are blocked while an existing plan is overdue
• Free non-profit debt resources are signposted rather than hidden

More on this on our responsible spending page.

How to complain

Start with the help centre, which is the fastest route to somebody who can see your account. If a complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can escalate it outside the company.

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts complaints about consumer financial products in the United States
• Your state financial regulator or attorney general may also accept complaints
• For a financing plan, the banking partner named in your agreement has its own complaints process

Escalating does not affect how we handle your account.

Verifying any of this

Everything on this page should be checkable against a public register rather than taken on trust. Once the entity details below are published, you can look them up directly with the relevant supervisor rather than relying on our description of them.