Affirm Brings Installment Payments to Walmart Self-Checkout

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Affirm has expanded its long-standing partnership with Walmart.

With this expansion, Affirm pay-over-time options will be added to self-checkout kiosks at more than 4,500 Walmart stores in the U.S., the company announced Tuesday (Dec. 19).

“Recent Affirm research revealed that more than half of Americans are looking for retailers to offer a buy now, pay later option at checkout,” Affirm Senior Vice President of Revenue Pat Suh said in a news release.

“Moreover, we’ve found that 76% of consumers would either delay or not make a purchase without Affirm. Expanding our partnership with Walmart and bringing Affirm’s transparent monthly pay-over-time options to their self-checkout kiosks in the U.S. will help even more consumers increase their purchasing power during the holiday shopping season and beyond.”

In addition to Walmart’s stores, website and app, customers can also pay with Affirm at Walmart’s vision and auto centers, the release said.

Elsewhere in the BNPL space, PYMNTS on Monday (Dec. 18) examined the rise of this payment method in wealthier parts of the Middle East, a trend evidenced by the recent success of the eCommerce marketplace Tamara — which has a presence in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is now the region’s first “unicorn.”

“Saudi Arabia is the leading global oil producer, and like any country, has a broad range of income distribution, as is the case with Kuwait and the UAE,” PYMNTS wrote. “According to data from global organizations, these are relatively wealthy nations. Saudi Arabia’s average annual income tops $27,000. In the UAE, the average income is nearly $49,000. In Kuwait, the figure comes to about $40,000 annually.”

And while these numbers are well below the average income in the U.S., they still put those countries in the top 30 or so richest nations.

“The growth of BNPL in relatively wealthier nations mirrors the trends seen in the U.S.,” PYMNTS wrote.

“The Credit Accessibility Series: BNPL’s Wide-Ranging Impact on Consumers and Merchants,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Sezzle collaboration, showed that 16% of consumers used BNPL, with another 12% reporting they used it at some point in the past.

The usage skews higher for higher-income households, as of those making more than $100,000 annually, 17% have used BNPL and currently are using it, while more than 28% of higher income earners say they had at least some experience with BNPL, a bit higher than the average for the population as a whole.

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