Affirm plans to bring Buy Now, Pay Later debit cards to more users through deal with FIS
Affirm is working with fintech company FIS to bring its debit card to more banks.
Affirm, the online lender founded by Max Levchin, expanded beyond credit and entered the debit market four years ago with a card that let users pay over time. Now the company is making it possible for banks to offer that service to their customers.
Affirm, which pioneered the buy now, pay later business (BNPL), has partnered with FIS in a deal that will allow the fintech company to offer the pay-over-time service to its banking clients and their millions of individual customers.
Any bank that partners with FIS will be able to provide its own version of the Affirm Card, which launched in 2021, without asking customers to adopt a new piece of plastic. Consumers can access Affirm's biweekly and monthly installment plans and have the money automatically deducted from their checking account.
There are approximately 230 million debit card users in the U.S., according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. BNPL services have traditionally been tied to credit cards or standalone financing products, rather than to debit offerings.