CareCredit Alternatives for Veterinary Practices: Cherry, Scratchpay, and What Else Is Out There

Most veterinary practices that offer patient financing started with CareCredit. It was the first product in the space, it has the highest client brand recognition, and for a long time it was essentially the only option. That is no longer true.

 In 2026 there are at least five meaningful alternatives to CareCredit serving the veterinary market, each with a different fee structure, a different approval model, and a different relationship with the practice carrying the risk. Some of them are structurally better for practice owners than CareCredit. Some are better for clients. Some are better for both.

 This article is published by VetSoftwareHub, an independent, vendor-neutral resource for veterinary practice owners and managers. We have no financial relationship with any of the companies covered here. What follows is a plain-language comparison of the options available in 2026, grounded in publicly available pricing, regulatory developments, and how each product actually functions at the front desk.

 

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Why Practices Are Looking at CareCredit Alternatives

CareCredit still reaches more than 26,000 veterinary locations and, as of early 2025, is accepted at every public veterinary teaching hospital in the country. Client brand recognition is high. Same-day funding is real. For many practices, it continues to work well.

 But the competitive landscape has shifted, and so has the regulatory one. A few things are worth understanding before you decide whether CareCredit is still the right default or whether something needs to change.

 The deferred-interest model creates reputational risk. CareCredit's most commonly offered promotional plans are deferred-interest products, not true zero-interest plans. The distinction matters enormously to clients. On a deferred-interest plan, a client who pays off all but a small portion of their balance by the end of the promotional period gets hit with the entire accumulated interest retroactively, at a standard APR of 32.99 percent. A client who pays off all but $100 of a $2,500 balance on time can still owe roughly $430 in retroactive interest. When that happens, the client often blames the practice.

 Regulatory scrutiny is increasing. California's SB 639, in effect since 2020, prohibits veterinary staff from proactively enrolling clients in deferred-interest products during a visit. Clients must apply on their own device or a CareCredit-provided tablet. The CFPB, HHS, and Treasury opened a joint inquiry into medical credit cards in 2023, and the AVMA has noted that other states are likely to follow California's lead. A class-action lawsuit against CareCredit's parent company Synchrony is currently active.

 Approval rates leave a significant gap. Roughly 40 percent of clients who apply for third-party financing are approved. That means a majority of clients who need financing help are declined by any single product, and if your practice only offers one option, those clients leave without a path to pay.

 The fee math has changed. Flat-fee installment products now offer predictable 5 percent merchant fees with no promotional-period complexity. For practices that have been absorbing CareCredit's fees on every transaction without examining the alternatives, the comparison is worth running.

 

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The Options: What Each Product Actually Is

CareCredit

CareCredit is a revolving healthcare credit card issued by Synchrony Bank. Clients apply for a credit line of up to $25,000, which they can use across any CareCredit-accepting provider. Approval is based on a hard credit pull.

 How it works for the practice: You enroll with Synchrony, accept the card at your terminal, and receive same-day funding. The merchant discount rate starts around 4.7 percent for standard plans and increases with promotional period length. Six-year document retention is required for each first-time cardholder application.

 Promotional plans: CareCredit offers 6, 12, 18, and 24-month deferred-interest promotions, as well as reduced-APR plans of 24 to 60 months at 17.9 to 20.9 percent for larger balances. The deferred-interest plans are the most commonly marketed ones and the source of most client complaints.

 Best for: Clients with strong credit who will reliably pay off the balance within the promotional period, and practices that want the largest possible client credit lines.

 The honest concern: The deferred-interest structure is what generates complaints and, increasingly, regulatory attention. If you offer CareCredit, follow California's disclosure model regardless of your state: give clients the tablet, do not pre-fill the application, and explain the deferred-interest mechanics clearly before they apply.

 

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Scratchpay

Scratchpay is an installment loan product for veterinary and medical patients, issued through WebBank. It is currently available at more than 17,000 veterinary clinics and is the most widely adopted flat-fee alternative to CareCredit in the veterinary market.

 How it works for the practice: You enroll for free, with no monthly fees. When a client needs financing, they apply through a link you text or display at checkout. The application takes roughly 60 seconds. You receive a flat 5 percent fee on the financed amount, deducted from the disbursement. Funds arrive via ACH within two to three business days. You bear no default risk.

 Client terms: Clients can finance $200 to $10,000 across 12, 24, or 36-month terms. APR ranges from 0 to 36 percent depending on creditworthiness. Scratchpay also offers a "Take 5" bi-weekly option at 0 percent APR for qualified borrowers. There is no deferred interest on any plan.

 Approval model: Soft credit pull, which means the application does not affect the client's credit score and reduces the friction of applying at checkout.

 PIMS integration: Scratchpay's Scratch Checkout product integrates with major PIMS platforms for reconciliation and also bundles merchant payment processing, with the company claiming average savings of around $900 per month for practices that switch their full payment processing. A practice processing over $10 million annually should request enterprise pricing directly.

 Best for: Practices that want predictable fees, no client complaint risk from deferred-interest mechanics, and a soft-pull application that feels less intimidating at checkout.

 

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Cherry

Cherry is a buy-now-pay-later healthcare financing product that competes directly with both CareCredit and Scratchpay. It has broader reach across healthcare verticals including dental and aesthetics, but has been actively expanding in veterinary medicine and integrates natively with a wide range of veterinary PIMS platforms including Cornerstone, ezyVet, Covetrus Pulse, AVImark, Vetspire, Neo, and Instinct.

 How it works for the practice: Enrollment is free. Provider fees are not publicly disclosed and should be requested directly, but are generally reported in the 3 to 10 percent range depending on plan terms and practice volume. Funds are disbursed within 1 to 2 business days with no chargeback or default risk to the practice.

 Client terms: Cherry offers true 0 percent APR plans for qualified borrowers on 3 to 24-month terms. Unlike CareCredit's deferred-interest structure, Cherry's 0 percent plans are genuinely interest-free for the client, not subject to retroactive interest charges if they miss the payoff window. Clients who do not qualify for 0 percent are offered interest-bearing plans.

 Approval model: Soft credit pull.

 Best for: Practices that want PIMS integration, a transparent 0 percent product without deferred-interest exposure, and a product with strong brand recognition in healthcare broadly.

 

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All Pet Card

All Pet Card is a veterinary-specific revolving credit card issued by Comenity Bank, positioned as a direct CareCredit alternative from within the same product category. It is listed on the VetSoftwareHub directory and has generated significant search volume from practice managers researching CareCredit alternatives.

 How it works for the practice: All Pet Card functions similarly to CareCredit as a revolving line of credit. There is no fixed credit limit communicated upfront. Practices enroll and accept the card at checkout, with merchant fees structured similarly to CareCredit.

 Client terms: All Pet Card offers a 6-month deferred-interest promotional period on purchases of $250 or more, with a standard APR of 32.99 percent. This is essentially the same deferred-interest structure as CareCredit's shorter promotional plans.

 The honest assessment: All Pet Card is a CareCredit competitor in terms of structure, not a fundamentally different model. It carries the same deferred-interest concerns. The primary reason to consider it alongside CareCredit is client variety: some clients who are declined by CareCredit may be approved by All Pet Card, or vice versa, due to the different underwriting criteria between Synchrony and Comenity. Running both gives you two bites at the prime-credit client.

 

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VetBilling

VetBilling is not a third-party lender. It is an in-house installment payment plan management service, meaning the practice remains the creditor and carries the default risk, but VetBilling provides the infrastructure to manage it.

 How it works: The practice sets the terms: down payment requirement, monthly payment amount, and plan length. VetBilling provides a built-in credit analysis tool to help assess risk, handles ACH auto-debit collection, and manages the administrative side of the plan. The practice pays flat setup and monthly service fees rather than a percentage of each transaction.

 Why it matters in 2026: California's restrictions on in-practice deferred-interest enrollment have made in-house plans more attractive relative to CareCredit in that state. More broadly, in-house plans reach clients that no third-party lender will touch. For clients with thin credit files, damaged credit, or who simply do not want a credit inquiry, an in-house plan is the only path that keeps them in the practice.

 The tradeoff: The practice carries default risk, which requires operational discipline around collection and a realistic write-off budget. Practices without a dedicated practice manager or billing staff tend to find in-house plans harder to sustain.

 Best for: Multi-doctor practices with established billing processes, practices in California navigating SB 639, and any practice that wants to serve clients declined by every third-party product.

 

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Varidi

Varidi is the most structurally different product on this list. It offers installment payment plans with no credit check of any kind, which makes it the only option for clients who cannot pass any form of creditworthiness review.

 How it works: Varidi offers two products. The Guarantee Plan covers up to $4,000 with practice-set terms and monthly payments capped at 10 percent of the client's self-reported income. The non-guarantee variant operates on similar terms without the practice-side payment guarantee. Varidi handles collection, and practices receive disbursement according to the agreed schedule.

 The research case: A 2025 peer-reviewed study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science followed 16 clinics using Varidi and found that clients who used the product had specifically been facing euthanasia, delayed care, or pet surrender as their only alternatives. These were clients that every other financing tier had declined.

 Best for: Practices that want to close the gap on economic euthanasia for clients who fail third-party credit checks entirely, and are willing to accept the collection mechanics that come with no-credit-check lending.

 

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How the Fee Math Compares

The table below reflects publicly available and reported fee ranges as of April 2026. CareCredit fees vary by promotional period length; the 4.7 percent figure is the standard rate for non-promotional transactions. Longer promotional periods carry higher merchant fees. Always verify current rates directly with each vendor before making a decision.

 

 

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The Stacking Strategy: Why One Product Is Not Enough

The 40 percent approval rate on third-party financing means that if your practice offers only one option, the majority of clients who need help do not get it. The practices capturing the most treatment acceptance in 2026 are not choosing a single financing winner. They are building a stack that covers the full range of client financial profiles.

 A practical three-tier configuration looks like this.

 Tier one: CareCredit or All Pet Card for clients who want the longest possible 0 percent promotional runway and have the credit profile and payment discipline to use deferred-interest products safely. These clients exist and benefit from this product. The key is disclosure: make sure they understand what happens if they do not pay off the balance in full before the promotional period ends.

 Tier two: Scratchpay or Cherry as the default second offer for everyone else. Flat-fee, soft-pull, no deferred interest, PIMS-integrated. This is where most of the unmet financing volume lives. Clients who are declined by CareCredit are often approved by Scratchpay or Cherry. Clients who are nervous about a hard credit pull will engage more readily with a soft-pull product. For most practices, this tier will handle more volume than tier one once it is properly offered at checkout.

 Tier three: VetBilling or Varidi for clients the first two tiers cannot serve. These are the cases that otherwise end with a difficult conversation about euthanasia or surrendered pets. Having a documented process for offering tier-three options is both a patient care decision and a practice financial decision.

 The stacking approach also reduces your regulatory exposure. A practice that leads with the in-house or soft-pull option, and positions CareCredit as one available tool rather than the default, is less likely to end up cited in a complaint or a class-action case if a client misunderstands the deferred-interest mechanics.

 

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Questions to Ask Before Enrolling in Any Financing Product

Before you sign up for any of these products, ask the following.

 What is the exact merchant fee for each plan type, and how does it change based on promotional length or client creditworthiness?

 How and when are funds disbursed? What is the process if there is a dispute or chargeback?

 What are my obligations if a client defaults? Who is responsible for collection?

 Does this product integrate with my PIMS for reconciliation? If not, what does the manual reconciliation workflow look like?

 What are the disclosure requirements for my state? Am I required to present this product in a specific way?

 What are the cancellation and contract terms? Am I locked in for a minimum period?

 

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The Bottom Line

CareCredit is not going away, and for many practices it still belongs in the toolkit. But in 2026 it is not the only serious option, and for some practices it is no longer the best default.

 Scratchpay and Cherry offer flat fees, soft-pull approvals, and no deferred-interest exposure at a merchant cost that is often comparable to or lower than CareCredit's longer promotional plans. VetBilling and Varidi serve the clients that all third-party products decline. All Pet Card adds a second revolving-credit option for practices that want to maximize prime-credit approval rates.

 The clearest thing the data supports is this: a practice that offers only CareCredit is leaving treatment acceptance on the table. A practice that stacks two or three complementary options and trains its front desk to present them confidently will see a measurable improvement in how many clients say yes.

For product listings, user reviews, and more information on the financing tools mentioned in this article, see the Payments category on VetSoftwareHub.

If you want help evaluating which financing stack makes sense for your practice size and client demographics, reach out through the VetSoftwareHub contact page.

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Fee ranges and product details in this article reflect publicly available information as of April 2026. Financing products and their terms change frequently. Always verify current rates and terms directly with each vendor before enrolling. This article is educational in nature and does not constitute financial or legal advice.

 

Have a correction or an update? Contact us at vetsoftwarehub.com/contact.