Short answer: Cosmetic surgery financing mostly comes from lenders, through medical credit cards and installment loans, which have largely replaced the informal payment plans clinics offered directly. If an ad or a page states a monthly payment, or “no interest” on a medical credit card, federal rules require more terms in it. On Facebook and Instagram, a US clinic’s ad that offers financing needs Meta’s financial category.
Before you read: This guide sums up what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) publishes about medical financing, the advertising rules in Regulation Z and Meta’s rules for financial ads. It also covers what CareCredit and Cherry publish for practices. It is general information, not legal advice.
How patient financing works
The CFPB’s report of May 2023 says medical credit cards and installment loans have largely replaced the informal payment plans that providers offered patients directly, at low or no cost.
A medical credit card can only pay for medical services. The CFPB notes these cards have traditionally covered procedures insurance didn’t, such as cosmetic procedures. Someone at the practice usually signs the patient up, and the card company checks their credit.
If the card company approves the patient, it pays the provider, and the patient pays the card company back. With a payment plan, the patient pays in installments, to the provider or to a financing company that reimburses the provider as the patient pays.
Some payment plans may be interest-free, while others are promoted as a way to break up payments into installments with deferred interest. The lender also handles debt collection, which the CFPB lists among the benefits for providers.
What deferred interest means for your patients
The interest on medical credit cards is often deferred for a set time. A patient who pays off the whole balance within that time pays no interest.
If a balance is left when the deferred interest period ends, or a minimum payment is more than 60 days late, interest is charged on that balance. The CFPB explains that the patient would then owe all the interest back to the original date of the charge.
After a promotion ends, the CFPB warns that rates can go above 25 percent in some cases. It also tells patients that a low or zero percent APR could signal a deferred interest promotion.
In our view, the consultation is the moment to say when the promotion ends and what the rate is after it, before anyone signs the patient up.
What the CFPB tells patients about providers
The same report says financial companies market these products to healthcare providers, who are encouraged to promote them to patients.
The CFPB’s page for patients lists what a provider gains: more business, full payment quickly, and less time and cost spent on billing. It says a provider’s incentives may not always align with what is best for the patient.
It also tells patients they may pay more this way than with credit they already have. And it asks them to check financial assistance and what their insurance covers before agreeing to a plan.
In our view, a clinic earns more trust when it says who the lender is and what the rate is after any promotion. It also helps to say that the patient can pay in other ways.
Signing up with CareCredit or Cherry
CareCredit and Cherry both explain, on their pages for providers, how a practice joins them and how it pays. Neither page gives a fee amount.
CareCredit’s provider FAQ says a practice gets started by filling out an online form, after which a member of its team gets in touch, or by calling.
The same FAQ says its merchant fees are tied to the financing options, with no hidden transaction fees. To learn the fees, the practice talks to its team through that form.
CareCredit pays the practice within two business days by electronic deposit, minus its processing fee. The FAQ says the practice is paid even if a cardholder delays payment or defaults, subject to the representations and warranties in its agreement with Synchrony.
For patients, the card charges no interest on eligible purchases above a minimum amount if the promotional balance is paid in full within 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. Minimum monthly payments apply in the meantime, CareCredit says. If the promotional balance isn’t paid in full within that period, interest is charged from the purchase date: the deferred interest described above.
Longer plans of 24, 36, 48 or 60 months on qualifying purchases carry a reduced APR and fixed monthly payments. The practice chooses the offers it accepts in CareCredit’s Provider Center.
Cherry describes itself as a financial technology platform, not a bank or a lender. Its help center for providers says signing up is free, with no setup fee or monthly fee.
The only cost it lists is a fee on each transaction, which varies with the practice’s pricing settings. A new practice asks a Cherry representative about it.
After each completed transaction, Cherry sends the full purchase amount, less that fee, to the practice’s bank account by ACH. According to Cherry, it arrives within 3 business days at most, depending on the bank.
Cherry takes on the credit risk of every contract, so the practice isn’t responsible if a patient stops paying. Its plans run from 1 to 60 months, with an APR that depends on the plan, and it says it has no deferred interest.
Cherry also asks the practice to deliver the service in a timely manner, which it broadly defines as the same day unless another arrangement was clearly agreed with the patient. If the service isn’t delivered, the practice refunds the purchase.
In our view, ask each company for the fee on every plan you would offer before you sign up, since neither page publishes it.
If your ad states a monthly payment
Regulation Z’s advertising rules don’t stop at lenders. Its official interpretation says all persons must follow them, including merchants and others who are not creditors themselves, when they advertise consumer credit transactions.
For an installment loan or other closed-end credit, section 1026.24 lists the terms that trigger more disclosures. They are the amount or percentage of any down payment, the number of payments or repayment period, the amount of any payment, and the amount of any finance charge.
An ad with one of them must also give, as applicable, the down payment, the repayment terms over the full loan and the “annual percentage rate,” using that term. If the rate can go up later, the ad must say so.
Section 1026.27 allows these disclosures in a language other than English, and for ads it drops the duty to offer them in English on request.
For a medical credit card or another open-end plan that pays for a service the ad names, section 1026.16 adds a rule. An ad that states a periodic payment amount must also state the total of payments and the time to repay, assuming only that payment is made.
Both have to be as prominent as the payment itself. In our view, if the total and the time make the line too long for an ad, leave the monthly payment out of the ad.
If your ad says “no interest”
Deferred interest offers on a card or another open-end plan, other than a home-equity plan, have their own rule in section 1026.16. The ad must state the deferred interest period clearly and conspicuously. If it says “no interest” or something similar, the words “if paid in full” come before that period, not after it.
In a written or electronic ad, the period goes right next to each “no interest,” “no payments,” “deferred interest,” “same as cash” or similar term. So does “if paid in full,” where it applies.
The ad must also say that interest will be charged from the purchase date if the balance isn’t paid in full within the period the ad gives. Section 1026.16 requires language similar to Regulation Z’s Sample G-24, which uses those words. If it applies, the ad must also say the same happens when the account is in default before the period ends. In written and electronic ads, these statements also go in a prominent place close to the first of those terms in the ad. They aren’t required on a banner or pop-up ad linked to an online application or solicitation.
Financing ads on Facebook and Instagram
Meta treats an ad as a financial ad when it promotes or links directly to a financial product or service offer. Among its US examples are 0% APR installment payments, including buy now, pay later and in-house installment payments.
If you advertise from the United States or to people there, those campaigns need the Special Ad Category for financial products and services. Meta says an ad that should have it and doesn’t may be rejected.
The category limits the audience options, as our guide on how to run Facebook ads explains. Meta’s policy also requires advertisers to comply with all applicable laws, including any disclosure requirements.
In our view, keep financing out of the ads for each procedure and give it a campaign of its own under that category. That way the procedure campaigns keep their audience options.
The rules for the procedure ads themselves are in our guides on Botox advertising and body contouring marketing.
On your website and price list
The same sections cover ads on a website. A site can gather the required disclosures in one clear and conspicuous table, if every other mention of the terms clearly refers to where it begins. In a deferred interest offer, the period and “if paid in full” still go next to each “no interest.”
Every term must also be one the lender actually offers: section 1026.24 says an ad may state only terms that are or will be arranged or offered. Our guide on the pricing page covers how to show the procedure prices themselves.
Before you add financing to an ad or a page
- Every rate, payment and period in the ad is one the lender actually offers.
- A monthly payment on a card offer for the services in the ad comes with the total of payments and the time to repay, just as prominent.
- A payment on an installment loan comes with the down payment, the repayment terms and the “annual percentage rate.”
- A deferred interest offer has “if paid in full” and the period next to each “no interest,” plus the line on interest from the purchase date.
- Facebook and Instagram campaigns run from the US, or reaching people there, that offer financing use the financial products and services category.
- Your team can explain deferred interest and the end date at the consultation.
Our cosmetic and plastic surgery marketing helps clinics run Meta and Google ads that end in a conversation. Every claim, price and photo waits for the surgeon’s OK.
Questions about cosmetic surgery financing
Do the advertising rules apply if the clinic isn’t the lender?
Regulation Z’s official interpretation says all persons must follow its advertising sections, not only creditors. Merchants and others who are not creditors themselves must comply if they advertise consumer credit transactions.
What does deferred interest mean?
Regulation Z defines it as finance charges a consumer doesn’t have to pay, or that are waived or refunded, if the balance is paid in full by a set date. If a balance remains, the CFPB says the interest goes back to the original date of the charge.
Does a Facebook ad with 0% APR financing need the special category?
Meta lists 0% APR installment payments, including buy now, pay later and in-house installment payments, among its US examples of financial products and services. Advertisers in the US, or reaching people there, need the category, or the ad may be rejected.
How high are the rates on medical credit cards?
The CFPB says medical credit cards and medical payment plans are often more expensive than other forms of payment, including conventional credit cards, with interest rates reaching above 25 percent.
Can a website show the financing terms in a table?
Yes. Regulation Z lets an ad on a website gather the required disclosures in one table or schedule, with enough detail to work them out. The table has to be clear and conspicuous, and any other statement of the terms has to clearly refer to where it begins.
How does a practice start accepting CareCredit?
CareCredit’s provider FAQ says a practice gets started by filling out an online form, after which a member of its team gets in touch, or by calling. To learn the fees, which are tied to the financing options, the practice talks to that team.
Sources
Read on November 9, 2026. From the CFPB: Medical Credit Cards and Financing Plans. Its answers for consumers: What should I know about medical credit cards and payment plans for medical bills? and I got a credit card promising no interest for a purchase if I pay in full within 12 months. How does this work? From Regulation Z: § 1026.24 Advertising, § 1026.16 Advertising, Comment for 1026.2 - Definitions and Rules of Construction, Appendix G to Part 1026 and § 1026.27 Language of disclosures. From Meta: About Ads for Financial products and services and Financial and Insurance Products and Services. Read on November 10, 2026, from the lenders: CareCredit Provider FAQs and Cherry Provider Support: FAQs, Login Help & Contact Info.