Amazon Pay taps Affirm to be its first buy now, pay later player

Affirm has become the first buy now, pay later player to be added to Amazon Pay, the two companies announced today.

As part of the new partnership, any Amazon Pay merchants in the U.S. can now choose to offer their customers the option to “buy now, pay later” using Affirm’s technology. Merchants who offer Amazon Pay don’t have to integrate Affirm as a standalone installment option. They can instead add it to their existing Amazon Pay button.

Affirm first announced an initial partnership with Amazon in August of 2021, which was exclusive through January of 2023. It started by rolling out in the U.S., before launching on Amazon.ca and the Amazon mobile app in Canada last September.

Now, through what Affirm describes as its Adaptive Checkout technology, the company says it gives consumers customized payments options, such as bi-weekly and monthly, for purchases over $50 starting at 0% APR. Amazon Pay customers who select Affirm as a payment option do have to be approved first in a process that Affirm says will not impact their credit score.

The fintech company has always touted that consumers using its technology “will never pay more than they agree to” as “there are no late or hidden fees with Affirm.

”For consumers, it’s one more way to spread out the payment of purchases. Amazon Pay generally makes it easier for people to order things online without having to enter all their name, address and payment info since it allows them to connect to their accounts with the click of a button. For retailers, that convenience was already more likely to translate into increased sales and presumably, more payment options would only boost sales. Also, Affirm claims that retailers offering Amazon Pay with Affirm will now be able to tap into a new shopper network since 16 million shoppers “actively use Affirm.”

For Affirm, the agreement represents a scaling of the two companies’ existing relationship. Currently, Affirm is already used by “millions” of customers in the U.S. and Canada on Amazon.com and the Amazon app.

Amazon Pay taps Affirm to be its first buy now, pay later player by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch