Buy-Now Pay Later: Affirm’s Business Model Teardown

Renjit Philip
2 min readDec 31, 2020
Buy-Now Pay Later: Affirm's Business Model Teardown
http://www.affirm.com
Affirm’s revenue flow

Buy Now Pay Later

Buy-now pay later (BNPL), is fast gaining prominence in the world of Fintechs in the Middle East. We have seen startups like Tabby and Tamara making news for their funding rounds or their merchant tie-ups. It is a phenomenon that has been over eight years in the making in its new avatar (Klarna/ Affirm).

Historically, it has older roots; it originates from the Layaway /Khata concept popular in markets as diverse as the US & India. Retailers have always been extending credit to their top customers- BNPL is the digital version.

Ever wondered how the business model works? Thanks to the good folks at Affirm, we get a glimpse into the inner workings of Affirm’s business model (refer image for the steps):

Revenue flow

Step 1- Customer makes an online purchase.

Step 2- Affirm has an originating bank (in this case, the Cross River Bank of New Jersey) that deducts the merchant service fee and remits the rest to the merchant (example here $50)

To carry on reading this story, please go on to my blog>>https://www.renjitphilip.com/buy-now-pay-later-affirms-business-model-teardown

If you liked this post, then you may enjoy reading:

  1. Fintech Valuation (inflated or not?)
  2. Blockchain: Basic building Blocks
  3. So, you want to start a Fintech?

--

--

Renjit Philip

Life-long Learner| Interested in all things Digital| Ex-Startup founder| Father of a lovely daughter | Into Dad jokes (much to her chagrin!)