Affirm

Lending & Financing

Embedded BNPL and installment lending platform letting merchants offer 0–36% APR pay-over-time at checkout.

Overview

Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM) is the largest US consumer Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider, founded in 2012 by Max Levchin (PayPal co-founder). Affirm offers merchants a single integration — API, SDK, or white-label — to provide installment financing at checkout, with options ranging from interest-free Pay-in-4 (Split Pay) to longer-term installment loans at 0–36% APR. Affirm underwrites every transaction in real time using proprietary risk models and assumes all credit risk on behalf of merchants. The platform also issues the Affirm Card, a debit card with BNPL capabilities at point of swipe. Affirm's loans are originated through partner banks under sponsor-bank arrangements (Cross River Bank, Celtic Bank, Lead Bank) and through Affirm Loan Services LLC under direct state lending licenses. In January 2026 Affirm filed an ILC (Industrial Loan Company) charter application for Affirm Bank, pending FDIC approval. Merchants bear no lending license obligations and are not parties to the consumer loan; Affirm handles all KYC, underwriting, servicing, and collections. Notable embedded partners include Shopify (Shop Pay Installments, extended globally February 2025), Amazon, Target, Apple Pay Later transition, Booking.com, and Expedia. The Walmart partnership ended in March 2025 when Walmart switched to Klarna. Affirm reported FY2025 revenue of $3.22B (+38.8% YoY) and its first full-year GAAP profit. The pricing model is merchant discount rate (MDR) plus revenue share, typically in the 2–6% range, with custom enterprise terms. Key 2025 regulatory developments include the New York BNPL Act (May 2025) and a multi-state attorney general probe (December 2025).

Key features

• Pay-in-4 (Split Pay) plus longer-term installments (0–36% APR)
• Real-time underwriting with proprietary risk models
• Affirm Card (debit + BNPL at point of swipe)
• Merchant API, SDK, and white-label options
• Full consumer KYC, servicing, and collections
• Shopify-native Shop Pay Installments