BNPL just became real debt on your credit file
From July 2026, Etihad Credit Bureau started including Buy Now, Pay Later account data from Tabby and Tamara in UAE credit reports. Historical transactions are included too, and it applies to both new and existing customers of both providers.
The part people are missing
BNPL has always been marketed around the idea that it isn't really debt. No interest, no long approval process, split into a few payments and move on. That framing worked in part because it sat outside the formal credit system. It didn't show up anywhere a bank would look. That's over now. A missed BNPL instalment behaves the same way a missed credit card payment does on your file. The product didn't change. What changed is that it's now visible.
The inclusion story is the official one, not necessarily the full one
Etihad Credit Bureau has framed this as a financial inclusion move, more data means more "new-to-credit" customers get formally recognised, which in theory helps them access other credit products later. That's a reasonable read. It's also the version a credit bureau is always going to lead with. The other read is just as valid: this closes a gap where a segment of consumer debt was growing fast and completely unmonitored. Both things can be true. More visibility is good for the system. It's also less forgiving for anyone using BNPL the way it was originally sold, as something outside the usual rules.
What actually matters going forward
If you're using BNPL, it now counts the same way any other credit line does. That's not a warning, it's just the new baseline. The bureau isn't creating new risk, it's exposing risk that was already there.