Affirm Raises $500M, Adds Bi-Weekly Plan

Affirm, a San Francisco-based point-of-sale (POS), buy now, pay later (BNPL) lender, announced a $500 million series G round of funding Thursday (Sept. 17) in a press release, bringing its total funding raised to more than $1.3 billion.

The privately-held FinTech was founded in 2012 as an installment loan provider for shoppers to finance a purchase. Affirm said in the release that it provides more than 5.6 million U.S. and Canadian consumers an alternative to traditional credit cards.

“We’re excited about this vote of confidence from both new and existing investors as we advance our mission to build honest financial products that improve lives,” said Affirm CEO and Founder Max Levchin in the release.

The company did not say how it planned to use the cash.

The funding initiative was led by returning investor GIC, a wealth fund established by the Singapore government, and Durable Capital Partners, a Maryland investment company, the release stated. Other returning investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Wellington Management Co., Baillie Gifford, Spark Capital, Founders Fund and Fidelity Management & Research Co.

At the same time, the company introduced an interest-free biweekly payment product for transactions as low as $50. Consumers are not charged late or hidden fees when using the product, Affirm said in the release.

In July, Affirm was preparing for an initial public offering (IPO).

Also that month, Affirm announced it will work with Shopify to offer a BNPL payment option to their customers.

The companies said the Shopify’s product, which entered a testing phase, will be called Shop Pay Installments. Shopify offers a subscription software service that provides an eCommerce platform for online stores and retail POS systems.

“It’s critical for businesses to make it easy for their customers to buy from them,” said Shopify’s Kaz Nejatian, vice president and general manager, in a statement at the time. “Shop Pay Installments helps our merchants offer their customers more payment choice and flexibility, while delivering a seamless checkout experience to boost conversion and overall sales.”