Buy now, pay later in the Gulf: Tabby and Tamara explained

Tabby and Tamara are the two instalment providers you will meet most often at Gulf checkouts. Both let you split a purchase into interest-free payments, usually four, with the first taken at checkout and the rest over the following weeks. Used as intended, they cost nothing extra. The important thing to be clear about is that they change when you pay, not how much.

Stacking a code with instalments

A coupon code still works with instalments: apply the code first, and Tabby or Tamara then splits the discounted total. So the sequence is code, then card offer if any, then choose to split what remains. The instalment plan is the last decision, not the discount.

The one thing to watch

The interest-free promise depends on paying each instalment on time. A missed payment can trigger a late fee, which is where a plan that was free stops being free. If splitting a payment would make it easy to lose track, the honest saving is to skip the split, not to add it.