Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ: AFRM) is a financial technology company that operates a buy-now-pay-later platform, facilitating installment loans between consumers and merchants at the point of sale. It makes money through merchant network fees, interest income on loans held for investment, and loan sale gains. Affirm is not a bank itself; it originates loans through bank partners and either holds them on its balance sheet or sells them to third-party investors. As of June 30, 2025, the platform had 23,003 active consumers, up from 18,713 a year earlier, with 5.8 transactions per active consumer. Amazon represented 22% of total gross merchandise volume (GMV) in FY2025, and the top five merchants and platform partners accounted for approximately 47% of total GMV. The average balance of loans held for investment was $6.5 billion in FY2025. Affirm was founded by Max Levchin, who serves as CEO as of the filing dated August 28, 2025. The company does not pay dividends.

Revenue model

Affirm earns merchant network fees paid by commercial partners, interest income on installment loans held for investment on its balance sheet, and gains from selling loans to capital markets investors. GMV from 0% APR installment loans, where merchants subsidize the interest, was $4.7 billion in FY2025, up approximately 63% from $2.9 billion in FY2024, representing a meaningful portion of total volume.

Products and services

Affirm operates a consumer installment lending platform offering fixed-payment loans, including interest-bearing and 0% APR products. It also offers the Affirm Card, a direct-to-consumer debit card product. For certain transactions, loans are disbursed via one-time-use virtual cards issued through a bank partner and processed over card networks including Visa.

Customers and end markets

Affirm serves two customer groups: consumers seeking installment financing and merchants seeking conversion and sales lift at checkout. Key merchant categories driving GMV in FY2025 included general merchandise and electronics. Platform partners include large e-commerce retailers and Apple Pay. Amazon alone represented 22% of GMV in FY2025. The platform had 23,003 active consumers as of June 30, 2025.

Value-chain role

Affirm sits between consumers and merchants as a credit facilitator and loan servicer. It does not hold a bank charter; loans are originated by third-party bank partners. Affirm underwrites credit risk using proprietary models, services the loans, and either retains them on its balance sheet or sells them to funding partners. Virtual card disbursements route through an issuer processor and issuing bank, then over card networks to merchants.

Geographic exposure

Affirm operates internationally in addition to its U.S. base, with international operations subject to varying tax regimes including OECD Pillar Two legislation in certain countries where it does business, as noted in the FY2025 10-K.

Source: SEC 10-K, filed 2025-08-28

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