Walmart adds Affirm’s buy now, pay later option to self-checkout

Dive Brief:

Amid its pursuit of offline customers, installment payments platform Affirm announced it has integrated its pay-over-time services into Walmart’s self-checkout kiosks at more than 4,500 U.S. locations, according to a Tuesday press release.
Walmart customers can also use Affirm’s payment services online, in the Walmart app, and at the retailer’s vision and auto centers.
When using the buy now, pay later service, customers will see the total cost of their purchase before agreeing to the terms and will not have to pay late or unexpected fees, per the press release.

Dive Insight:

Walmart’s new partnership with Affirm deepens the relationship between the two companies. In 2019, the retailer tapped Affirm to provide installment payment options to customers at nearly 4,000 supercenters across the U.S.

Affirm has introduced its buy now, pay later services at other major retailers in recent years. In August 2021, Amazon turned to Affirm for installment payment services on select purchases of $50 or more. About two months later, Target added both Affirm and Sezzle installment payment services for its shoppers, allowing them to use Affirm to pay for purchases of $100 or more.

“Recent Affirm research revealed that more than half of Americans (54%) are looking for retailers to offer a buy now, pay later option at checkout. Moreover, we’ve found that 76% of consumers would either delay or not make a purchase without Affirm,” Pat Suh, Affirm’s senior vice president of revenue, said in a statement. “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.”

As it grows its roster of retail partners, Affirm has sought to attract customers offline in addition to its primarily online business. During an October 2022 webcast with Bank of America Equity Research analyst Jason Kupferberg, Affirm CFO Michael Linford said the company released its Debit+ card as part of its efforts to push further into brick-and-mortar sales.

“As an industry, I don’t think anybody has really solved [the physical store] problem with great success,” Linford said at the time.

As of Q2 2023, competing installment payment provider Afterpay boasted the highest number of U.S. monthly active users at 4.2 million customers, followed by Affirm (3.3 million), Klarna (3.3 million) and Zip (755,000), according to data from Bank of America Securities.