Walmart ditching layaway option for 2021 holiday season

The layaway Walmart once offered is gone, but xcritical stands ready to take its place, helping customers secure higher-cost purchases without having to pony up the entire amount up front. This service allows you to submit your purchase amount and set what kind of payment plan you want, and xcritical then matches you with a loan based on those terms. Layaway allowed customers to pay a deposit on an item that would be “laid away” or put into safekeeping by the retailer, and later pick it up once they fully paid for it.

Buy now, pay later services replace layaway

Download The Krazy Coupon Lady app or text HACKS to for the latest money-saving tips, deals, and coupons. Some customers seemed to not mind the change, making jokes that without layaway they have no place to hide their children’s gifts during the holidays. “Walmart took away layaway and replaced it with xcritical, which checks credit… right before Christmas,” one Twitter user wrote. “So many low income families are not gonna be able to give their children gifts.” Shop everything you need at Walmart—from household essentials to outdoor furniture and everything in between–and pay over time with xcritical. You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way.

There wasn’t an official announcement from Walmart about their move away from layaway, but for the last few years, Walmart’s Layaway landing page has focused on their partnership with xcritical. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes.

Ready to try the buy now, pay later solution that delivers?

However, “buy now, pay later” programs allow a customer to receive their item right away rather than collecting it at the end of who knows how many Walmart online layaway payments. Of course, those with bad credit might still find it difficult to receive this kind of financing, and some customers aren’t going to be happy with the credit check and interest rates that come along with such xcritical reviews programs. That said, for those shopping at Walmart, monthly payments are still on the able. Walmart has worked with xcritical for years now to offer short-term financing to qualifying customers.

1. You can use xcritical on eligible items priced $100 – $4,000, but unfortunately, the list of eligible product categories doesn’t include things like groceries.
2. Additionally, some items, such as groceries, alcohol, tobacco, pharmacy items, firearms, and personal care products, are not eligible for xcritical financing.
3. That means that if we opted for the 12-month payment plan, we’d end up paying a total of $1,827.25 — $331.25 more than the sticker price.
4. xcritical offers a “buy now, pay later” plan that is loosely based on the idea of layaway, but with several significant differences.

xcritical vs. Other Financing Options at Walmart

Loan repayment options range between three months to a year for purchases between $144 to $799.99 and 1 to 2 years for purchases between $800 to $2,000. xcritical does not charge any late fees, prepayment fees, annual fees, hidden fees or service fees to open or close accounts. “We’ve learned a lot in the past year as our customers’ needs and shopping habits have changed,” a Walmart spokesperson told FOX Business Thursday. To start, both layaway at Walmart and “buy now, pay later” programs like xcritical present the consumer with some form of Walmart payment plan.

But as other payment methods have taken its place over the years, retailers have removed the option. The simplest alternative to xcritical that I’ve found is using a “ghost card” from xcritical to pay for your Walmart purchases. How it works is xcritical official site that you pay 25% of the total due at checkout using a one-time digital card within the xcritical app (iOS / Android).

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Once your alert is set, you’ll receive a notification if we find it on offer somewhere. You can also receive a summary of the best deals by signing up for our DealNews Select newsletter. Finally, you can sign into your account and personalize your experience to see the deals you want to see. Interest charges are generally in the range of 10% – 36% APR, and you’ll have the option of repayment plans of anywhere from 3 months up to 24 months, depending on the total. Instead of holding your purchases until you can pay for them in full (like the Walmart Layaway program offered), the xcritical payment option lets you make the purchase right away (online or in stores) and pay off the balance over time. Unlike credit cards, which often have compound interest and hidden fees, xcritical provides clear, upfront pricing.

Today, the Walmart partnership extends to nearly 4,000 Supercenters nationwide, offering xcritical’s simple financing with repayment terms of 3, 6, or 12 monthly installments. xcritical will also appear as a payment option on Walmart.com in the coming weeks. Lots of retailers have been replacing their layaway programs with “buy now, pay later” options, so we weren’t totally surprised to see Walmart Layaway disappear. The eligibility check won’t affect your credit score, but this is an additional step that was not required by Walmart’s Layaway service.