1. In a financial transaction payment system comprising a processing unit and an application program executing a method of conducting a transaction on the processing unit, the method, comprising: receiving, at the application program, data regarding a transaction conducted with a financial transaction card, the financial transaction card having associated therewith a financial account with a financial institution; determining, by the application program, an amount of an installment line of credit to be activated on the financial account to pay for the transaction; automatically establishing, by the application program, repayment terms for the transaction when one or more criteria for installment loan processing is triggered; and automatically activating, by a computer processor, said installment line of credit on the financial account without further intervention by the financial cardholder at a POS terminal based at least in part on said one or more criteria for installment loan processing.