Buy now, pay later does not automatically lead to the same BKR registration for every product. The provider, the type of contract, the term and the applicable rules determine what is checked and registered. Moreover, an internal payment check or refusal is not the same as a negative BKR code. If you have a problem, ask which credit and which processing are actually involved.
Nederlands: Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands: Klarna, Riverty en BKR: hoe zit het met achteraf betalen?
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Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Onur Arslan practised for many years as a corporate lawyer and insolvency trustee (curator) and has extensive experience in financial law disputes. Last updated: 17 September 2026.
This explanation was checked on 16 September 2026. The European rules on consumer credit are being revised, with 20 November 2026 as the intended date of application for the new protection. According to current government information, the Dutch parliamentary process has yet to be completed. Future rules should therefore not simply be applied as if they already govern every current or past purchase.
What counts as buy now, pay later
With Buy Now Pay Later, often abbreviated to BNPL, you are given deferred payment for a purchase. Sometimes you pay in one go after a short period, sometimes in instalments. An online shop may grant the deferral itself, or an external provider such as Klarna or Riverty may be involved.
The brand name alone does not determine the legal regime. A provider may offer different products with varying terms, costs and contracts. The same purchase may also involve several parties: the seller, the payment service provider, the lender and, later, a debt collection agency.
You should therefore look up the confirmation and terms and conditions of your specific purchase. Which party is claiming payment? What payment period was agreed? Is it credit or a claim that has been taken over? That information is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about BKR (the Dutch Credit Registration Office), information obligations or a complaints procedure.
A credit check is not the same as a BKR registration
A provider may use data to assess whether to let you pay later. Depending on the product and policy, that may involve its own payment history, external information or a credit registration. A check does not automatically mean that a new debt is entered in BKR’s Central Credit Information System (CKI).
Nor does a refusal to let you pay for a purchase later prove that you have a negative BKR code. There may be other causes, such as an internal limit, incomplete data or the provider’s risk policy. Ask for the relevant explanation and check your own data if you suspect they are inaccurate.
You can view your current BKR overview via Mijn Kredietregistratie. See which agreement is actually listed. Do not assume that an unfamiliar name belongs to a particular purchase without comparing the contract number and the provider.
Four different problems call for four different actions
| Problem | First step |
|---|---|
| Paying later is refused | Ask which data or product conditions underlie the decision |
| An invoice is disputed | Record the dispute with the seller and the payment provider in writing |
| An unfamiliar credit appears at BKR | Ask for the contract and investigate an error or identity misuse |
| A correct debt is not being paid | Look into payment, an arrangement and the consequences of further arrears |
These situations can occur together. A product that was not delivered may, for example, lead to debt collection while you are also disputing a registration. Keep track, for each issue, of what you are asking and from whom. Contacting only the online shop does not always mean that the payment provider is aware of the dispute.
Do you get a BKR registration if you pay late once?
That cannot be answered in general terms on the basis of the word BNPL. It must first be established whether the specific product is subject to registration and which rules apply to an arrears report. A reminder email or an internal block is not automatically a CKI code.
If a credit is registered with BKR, the provider must follow the applicable conditions for special codes and arrears reports. Ask which event was reported, on what date and by which party. Also check any advance notices and the accuracy of the payment records.
Do not use information about another product from the same provider as evidence of your own agreement. Product terms and legislation can change. It is therefore sensible to keep the version that applied to your purchase, including confirmations of payment periods and costs.
What protection currently applies to short-term credit
Under the current rules, certain short-term credits with no costs or only insignificant costs may partly fall outside regular financial supervision. The precise statutory exemption and the contract date are important. This does not mean that a provider is free of all contractual or consumer law obligations.
The question of whether late payment charges form part of the business model may also be relevant to the classification. That is a legal assessment of circumstances and evidence, not a conclusion that follows from a reminder alone. A consumer cannot simply annul every invoice because collection costs were once mentioned.
Moreover, parts of the statutory text were amended in 2026. The recent Kifid decision below explicitly mentions the amendment of Article 1:20 of the Financial Supervision Act (Wft) with effect from 25 June 2026. Do not therefore use an old article number without checking which version applies to the agreement and the obligation relied on.
What the Klarna decision published on 3 September 2026 teaches us
In Kifid 2026-0861, delivered on 31 August and published on 3 September 2026, Kifid, the Dutch Financial Services Complaints Tribunal, did not deal with the merits of a complaint about buy now, pay later. In that case, Klarna had sufficiently substantiated that the credit concerned fell within the applicable exemption. As a result, there was no financial service as required for the complaint to be dealt with under the Kifid rules.
That result differed from earlier Kifid cases in 2026 in which the substantiation was different. It shows that the product, the contract date and the evidence matter. The decision does not hold that every complaint against Klarna always falls outside Kifid, nor that all buy now, pay later debts are justified on the merits.
A consumer should therefore check access to Kifid before submitting a complaint. A dispute that Kifid cannot deal with may still raise questions of consumer law, contract or debt collection. The right route may then lie with the civil courts, depending on the specific dispute.
What is expected to change from November 2026
The revised European Consumer Credit Directive, CCD II, brings more forms of credit within protective rules. According to the Dutch government, this covers BNPL and certain other forms of credit, among others. The proposed implementation aims at better protection against problem debt and irresponsible borrowing.
The new rules include supervision and requirements concerning information and creditworthiness assessment. The Dutch implementation and any exemptions must be checked in the final legislation and implementing rules. A broader duty to assess does not automatically mean that every small purchase will be registered in exactly the same way as a regular personal loan.
On the date of checking, the government states that the House of Representatives and the Senate have yet to decide and that, if approved, the rules will take effect from 20 November 2026. For a purchase or publication after that date, the current status must be checked again. Transitional law for existing agreements may also be relevant.
Do not confuse current rules with forthcoming rules
| Subject | What you need to check |
|---|---|
| Agreement concluded before the new rules | Contract date, the law in force at the time and any transitional law |
| New BNPL protection | Final entry into force and scope |
| Creditworthiness | Which assessment is mandatory for this product |
| BKR | Which data are consulted or registered |
| Complaints procedure | Jurisdiction based on the service, the provider and the applicable rules |
A news item about a bill is therefore not a sufficient basis for ignoring a current payment obligation. The same applies to a general online claim that BNPL is “never BKR” or “always BKR”. The assessment must go back to your agreement and the current legal context.
What if the product was not delivered?
Record with the seller what was ordered, what delivery date applied and why you dispute delivery. Keep order confirmations, tracking details and correspondence. Also report the dispute to the payment provider using the procedure intended for that purpose and ask what happens to the payment period.
A notification in an app does not always mean that all collection stops for good. Check the confirmation and respond if you still receive reminders. Which party has which obligation depends on the contract structure and the applicable consumer rules. If your dispute is rejected, have that relationship assessed.
If a signature on a proof of delivery is not yours, say so specifically. Ask for substantiation of the alleged delivery. The payment dispute is not automatically resolved merely by showing a parcel number, but a bare denial without responding to the available data may equally be insufficient.
Returns and an invoice that remains outstanding
Keep the proof of return, the shipping date and the confirmation of receipt or processing. Check whether you correctly withdrew from the contract or are relying on an additional returns policy. Your statutory rights and the shop’s voluntary returns conditions may differ.
Inform the payment provider of the return and ask how the outstanding invoice will be adjusted. If the shop refunds only part of the amount, check which items, shipping costs or other charges are still being billed. A clear breakdown of amounts prevents the discussion from remaining unnecessarily vague.
Keep responding to reminders as long as the records have not been corrected. That does not mean that you have to acknowledge a disputed claim. Set out which items you dispute and which undisputed amounts, if any, are owed, so that the two are not needlessly mixed up.
Collection costs and payment arrangements
For claims against consumers, conditions apply before extrajudicial collection costs can be charged. A correct reminder free of charge, giving the statutory payment period, is among the relevant requirements. Also check whether the principal amount itself is correct and whether costs are being charged twice or without a legal basis.
If you cannot pay a correct invoice, get in touch in good time about a feasible arrangement. Put agreements in writing and ask what consequences they have for costs, collection and any registrations. An arrangement does not automatically erase an existing payment arrear.
Do not take out new credit solely to keep a growing series of buy now, pay later invoices out of sight. Where problems are structural, municipal debt assistance can help you gain an overview and find a suitable approach. A legal objection to one incorrect invoice and help with other correct debts may be needed side by side.
An unfamiliar purchase or misuse of your account
If you did not make the purchase or the credit application, report this immediately to the seller and the payment provider. Request the application, identification and delivery file. Secure your account through an official channel and check whether your contact details have been changed.
An unfamiliar purchase may require a different legal route from a product you did order but which was not delivered. State clearly, therefore, whether you deny the agreement itself or dispute its performance. Do not give an untrue statement in order to have a dispute dealt with more quickly.
If the unfamiliar agreement also appears at BKR, follow the steps in BKR registration due to identity fraud. A fraud investigation, a defence against the debt and correction of data are related, but each requires an explicit request.
Can buy now, pay later affect your mortgage?
Even without a negative BKR code, existing payment obligations may be relevant to a mortgage application. The lender assesses your ability to pay and may ask for information about debts and outgoings. The absence of a CKI entry does not mean that an actual debt does not have to be disclosed.
When applying, ask which obligations must be taken into account and provide accurate information. An internal BNPL refusal does not automatically prove that a mortgage is impossible. Conversely, a clean BKR overview does not guarantee that every loan you want is responsible or available.
If a specific incorrect registration is the obstacle, have it assessed separately. The general article on BKR and a mortgage helps clarify the link between registration, acceptance and evidence of your interest.
A fictitious example of a well-organised dispute
A consumer returns two items from an order of five. The online shop processes one return, while the payment provider continues to show the original invoice. A reminder with costs follows. The consumer thinks that this has automatically resulted in a BKR code, but has not checked.
The first step is to compare the order, the proofs of return and the payment overview. The incorrect invoice is then disputed with both parties and they are asked to review the costs. Separately, the consumer can check his BKR overview. In this way an administrative returns problem and a presumed credit registration are not needlessly confused.
If it later turns out that a registration does exist, the contract concerned is compared with those data. The evidence from the invoice dispute can then also be used for correction. The example shows why well-kept records are stronger than a general complaint about the brand name of the payment provider.
Which documents should you bring for legal advice?
Gather the order confirmation, the terms and conditions, the payment option chosen, invoices and reminders. Add proof of return or delivery and all relevant complaints. For a registration, a current BKR overview is needed; if Kifid has declined your complaint, also its decision on admissibility.
Draw up a short timeline with the contract date, due dates, notifications and responses received. State what outcome you want: correction of the invoice, stopping unjustified collection, removal of data or an assessment of irresponsible lending. Those goals may have different legal bases and routes.
If you receive a summons or face another formal time limit, a prompt assessment is needed. A pending complaint with an online shop or payment provider does not replace a procedural step. Therefore also keep envelopes, dates of receipt and messages from a bailiff.
Keep records for each order
If you have made several purchases, draw up an overview for each order showing the shop, the order date, the payment service, the payment period chosen and any notice of return. Add credit notes and confirmations of receipt of returned items. A return to the shop does not always mean that the payment service has updated its records at the same time. Ask both parties, therefore, what amount is still outstanding and why. This allows you to distinguish a substantive payment dispute from a discussion about credit information or a registration.
Frequently asked questions about Klarna, Riverty and BKR
Is every Klarna or Riverty purchase registered with BKR?
You cannot assume that on the basis of the brand name. The specific product and the applicable rules determine how it is processed. Check the terms and conditions, ask the provider for an explanation and look at your current BKR overview if you suspect a registration.
Does a refusal mean that I have a negative BKR code?
No. Internal limits, product policy or incomplete data may also play a role. Ask what explains the decision on your application. A payment check and a registered payment arrear are different matters.
Can I always complain to Kifid about buy now, pay later?
No. Jurisdiction depends on the service, the provider and the applicable rules. In the Klarna case published on 3 September 2026, Kifid could not deal with the complaint on the merits. Check the current route for your agreement.
Do the new rules already apply on 16 September 2026?
The announced extension based on CCD II should not be presented in general terms as already in force. The government mentions 20 November 2026 as the intended date, subject to parliamentary approval. For later agreements, check the final legislation and the transitional law.
Does an invoice disappear if I report a return?
Not always immediately. Keep the proof of return and check how the seller and the payment provider have processed it. Dispute incorrect amounts in writing and ask what happens with collection and costs. A notification alone does not yet prove that the records have been adjusted.
Can Arslan Advocaten help with a BNPL dispute?
Arslan Advocaten can assess the agreement, the invoice, the collection and any registration, and determine the appropriate route. Send the contract date and the key documents. The prospects, costs and possible complaint or litigation steps are discussed beforehand.
Read also
- Right of withdrawal for online purchases: return within 14 days
- Product broken after purchase: what can you demand from the shop?
Sources and legal basis
- Dutch government on stricter rules for consumer credit.
- Bill 36924 before the Senate (Eerste Kamer).
- AFM (Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets) on buy now, pay later and forthcoming supervision.
- Kifid 2026-0861 on the admissibility of a Klarna complaint.
- Mijn Kredietregistratie from Stichting BKR.
Sources checked on 16 September 2026. Different rules may apply to a dispute on or after 20 November 2026; the actual entry into force and your product terms remain decisive.
