Q: What are patient financing programs for aesthetic practices?

How aesthetic patient financing programs work

A:Patient financing programs for aesthetic practices are in-house payment plans or third-party lenders such as CareCredit, a health and wellness credit card that offered no-interest promotions of 6, 12, 18, or 24 months in 2026 on purchases of $200 or more.¹ In an in-house plan, CareCredit says, the practice's own team sets payment terms and handles collections. With a third-party option like CareCredit, the patient applies for a dedicated line of credit, and the practice is paid within two business days instead of running payment plans itself.²

For larger plans, CareCredit offered reduced APRs from 17.90% for 24 months on $1,000 or more to 20.90% for 60 months on $2,500 or more. Practices are paid within two business days, with no recourse if a patient pays late or defaults on a CareCredit account.¹

HFD, a patient lender, states on its aesthetics financing page that it approves 99%+ of applicants across all credit profiles, using a soft credit pull only and never a hard check, even at the time of funding. The same page says funds typically reach the practice within 2 to 3 business days, and that HFD carries the credit risk.³ Approval rate and default risk are the terms to compare across programs. For more about the evidence on patient financing, see our patient financing evidence.