Affirm
Affirm is a leading buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service, allowing consumers to finance purchases by splitting payments into manageable installments.
Affirm is a leading buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service, allowing consumers to finance purchases by splitting payments into manageable installments. It integrates with various e-commerce platforms, making it a popular payment method for both merchants and shoppers in the U.S. and Canada. Affirm offers a seamless checkout experience, providing consumers with flexible payment options without the need for traditional credit cards. As a PSP, Affirm enables merchants to increase conversion rates and boost customer satisfaction by offering financing options at checkout.
payment methods
markets
sectors served
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What Affirm costs
Affirm quotes per merchant. What you are offered depends on your volume, your industry, the countries you sell in, your card mix and your risk profile — so a published headline rate would not be your rate. Ask them for a quote against your own numbers.
Licences and regulation
Authorisations Affirm holds, as published by the provider or regulator. Check the register entry before relying on it.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)What it will not onboard
Affirm publishes which kinds of business it will and will not take. A category below the line is not a maybe — it is a declined application, whatever the coverage says.
Will not take (60)
- 5967Adult content and services
- 5542Automated fuel dispensers
- 9223Bail and bond payments
- 7995Betting and casino gambling
- 5993Cigar stores and stands
- 6051Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets
- 5960Direct marketing — insurance services
- 5966Direct marketing — outbound telemarketing
- 5552Electric vehicle charging
- 6012Financial institutions
- 6011Financial services
- 7802Government-licensed horse and dog racing
- 7801Government-licensed online casinos
- 7800Government-owned lotteries
- 9406Government-owned lotteries, non-US
- 6300Insurance underwriting and premiums
- 6010Manual cash disbursement
- 4829Money orders and wire transfers
- 6540Non-financial institution, stored value card purchase and load
- 5933Pawn shops
- 6211Security brokers and dealers
- 7311Advertising services
- 8398Charitable and social service organisations — fundraising
- 8220Colleges and universities
- 5046Commercial equipment
- 5139Commercial footwear
- 7333Commercial photography, art and graphics
- 7372Computer programming and data processing
- 7392Consulting and public relations
- 9211Court costs
- 7321Credit reporting agencies
- 7393Detective agencies
- 5969Direct marketing — other
- 9702Emergency services
- 7361Employment and temporary agencies
- 9222Fines — government administrative entities
- 5983Fuel dealers, non-automotive
- 9399Government services
- 7375Information retrieval services
- 9950Intra-company purchases
- 9754Lodging — hotels, motels and resorts
- 5047Medical, dental and ophthalmic equipment
- 8699Membership organisations
- 7399Miscellaneous business services
- 5021Office and commercial furniture
- 4761Online travel agencies and travel packages
- 4723Package tour operators
- 5172Petroleum and petroleum products
- 7829Picture and video production
- 5131Piece goods, notions and dry goods
- 8651Political organisations
- 9402Postal services — government only
- 8661Religious organisations
- 5972Stamp and coin stores
- 9311Tax payments — government agencies
- 7511Truck stops
- 9405US federal government agencies or departments
- 5137Uniforms and commercial clothing
- 4900Utilities
- 5935Wrecking and salvage yards
Will look at, with more information (30)
- 5963Door-to-door sales
- 8931Accounting and bookkeeping services
- 8911Architectural and surveying services
- 5551Boat dealers
- 8244Business and secretarial schools
- 1750Carpentry services
- 1771Concrete work services
- 8241Correspondence schools
- 7277Counselling services
- 5964Direct marketing — catalogue merchant
- 5968Direct marketing — subscription
- 8299Educational services
- 1731Electrical services
- 1520General contractors
- 1711Heating, plumbing and air conditioning
- 0780Landscaping services
- 8111Legal services and attorneys
- 5262Marketplaces
- 1740Masonry, stonework and plaster
- 7297Massage parlours
- 5271Mobile home dealers
- 5592Motor home dealers
- 5571Motorcycle shops and dealers
- 5561Motorcycle, moped and recreational vehicle dealers
- 1761Roofing, siding and sheet metal
- 5598Snowmobile dealers
- 1799Special trade services
- 7276Tax preparation services
- 8734Testing laboratories
- 8249Vocational and trade schools
Checked 19 October 2026. Source Categories change, and an acquirer can refuse a business whose code is not on any list. Confirm with Affirm before you build.
What you need to onboard
N/A
What the last check found
Affirm is not a payment institution but a consumer lender, which changes where the money sits. Loans are originated by partner banks — Cross River, Celtic, Sutton, Evolve Bank & Trust and Stride Bank, N.A. — not by Affirm, so FDIC insurance on an Affirm Money Account is the bank's and not Affirm's. Affirm Payments, LLC holds the US state money transmitter licences and is a FinCEN-registered MSB; Affirm Loan Services, LLC is the licensed lender and servicer (California Financing Law 60DBO-111681, NMLS 1479506).
The UK entity is the notable finding. Affirm U.K. Limited is FCA-authorised for regulated consumer credit activities, FRN 756087 — confirmed on the FCA's firm checker as Affirm U.K. Limited, affirm.com/en-gb, EC2R 7HJ, currently holding permission. The entity was incorporated on 25 May 2016 as SKYTECH CAPITAL LTD and renamed only on 9 May 2024, company number 10199101: Affirm bought an existing FCA permission rather than applying for one, acquiring Butter Holdings Ltd on 1 February 2023. Anyone checking should match on the reference rather than the name, because the same search also returns Affirmative Finance Limited, Affirma Financial Planning Ltd and four more unrelated firms. The FCA's regime for BNPL and deferred payment credit came into force on 25 July 2026. Affirm Holdings, Inc. (Delaware 7464061) is the ultimate parent, and the group is independent and listed.
Two items are pending rather than authorisations. In January 2026 Affirm applied to the Nevada Financial Institutions Division and the FDIC to charter Affirm Bank, a proposed industrial loan company. And Affirm B.V., with "Stichting Affirm for Client Funds", now appears in the subsidiary list — the standard Dutch safeguarding structure — against stated plans for the Netherlands, France and Germany. No DNB authorisation was found, so EEA coverage should be treated as unlicensed for now.
The non-UK references are not recorded on this listing. The ASIC licence 569362, the California DFPI licence 60DBO-111681 and NMLS 1883087 could not be resolved, because NMLS Consumer Access, the DFPI licensee list and the Bank of Canada PSP registry are JavaScript-rendered or bot-blocked; and the FinCEN registration carries no reference at all, so it would record nothing a reader could check. Those numbers come from each firm's statutory disclosure and are corroborated by the SEC 10-K. Canada, through Affirm Canada Holdings Ltd., formerly PayBright, holds provincial lending licences with no retrievable numbers.
Checked against Affirm’s own documentation on 21 October 2026. Coverage changes; confirm anything you are about to build on.
Is Affirm regulated?
People at Affirm
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Work here? Confirm itSimilar to Affirm
Sources · 11
- Stripe Docs — Affirm payments · docs.stripe.comUsed for merchant and customer countries, presentment currencies, domestic-only rule, 35-30,000 USD limits, and the prohibited and restricted merchant category code tableChecked 19 October 2026
- Affirm — Licenses, registrations and bank partners · affirm.comUsed for California Financing Law licence 60DBO-111681, NMLS IDs 1479506 (Affirm Loan Services, LLC) and 1883087 (Affirm, Inc.), and the originating/issuing bank partners (Cross River, Celtic, Sutton, Evolve, Stride).
- Affirm UK — Terms (statutory FCA disclosure) · affirm.comUsed for FCA firm reference number 756087, legal entity Affirm U.K. Limited, company number 10199101, registered office, and that it is authorised for regulated consumer credit activities.
- Companies House — AFFIRM U.K. LIMITED (10199101) · find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.ukUsed for Confirmed legal name, 25 May 2016 incorporation, active status, SIC 64929/64999, and the previous name SKYTECH CAPITAL LTD until 9 May 2024.
- Companies House — Butter Holdings Ltd, persons with significant control · find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.ukUsed for Affirm Holdings, Inc. (US, Delaware, 7464061) holding 75%+ and director appointment rights from 1 February 2023 — dating the Butter acquisition and establishing the ownership chain to Affirm U.K. Limited.
- Affirm Holdings FY2026 Form 10-K, Exhibit 21.1 — Subsidiaries · sec.govUsed for Authoritative legal entity list and jurisdictions, including Affirm B.V. and Stichting Affirm for Client Funds (Netherlands), Affirm Australia Pty Ltd, Affirm Canada Holdings Ltd., Affirm Loans UK Ltd and Butter Holdings Ltd.
- Affirm Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for FY ended 30 June 2026 · sec.govUsed for Regulatory Environment section: Affirm Payments, LLC as money transmitter and FinCEN-registered MSB; Affirm U.K. Limited as the FCA-authorised entity; Affirm Australia Pty Ltd holding an Australian credit licence; Affirm Canada Holdings Ltd. provincial lending licences and the RPAA regime; the January 2026 Affirm Bank applications to the Nevada FID and FDIC; planned Netherlands/France/Germany expansion.
- Affirm Australia — site footer (statutory NCCP disclosure) · affirm.comUsed for Australian Credit Licence number 569362 and Affirm Australia Pty Ltd ACN 648 970 629.
- FCA Financial Services Register · register.fca.org.ukUsed for Attempted direct verification of FRN 756087; the search UI is a JavaScript application and the register API at /services/V0.1/Firm/756087 returned HTTP 403, so the FRN rests on the firm's statutory disclosure plus the 10-K.
- Bank of Canada — Retail payments PSP registry · bankofcanada.caUsed for Checked for an Affirm Canada / PayBright registration under the Retail Payment Activities Act; the list is dynamically loaded and returned no retrievable entries.
- FCA Firm Checker — search for "Affirm" · fca.org.ukUsed for Register read confirming FRN 756087 belongs to Affirm U.K. Limited, affirm.com/en-gb, EC2R 7HJ. The same search returns Affirmative Finance, Affirma Financial Planning and four other unrelated firms, so the exact FRN match matters.Checked 21 October 2026
11 sources · last checked 21 October 2026 — each one says which claim it supports.
Compiled from public sources — verify with Affirm before you sign anything. How we compile this · Suggest a correction ·