FinTech News
Affirm Joins MoreThanFair Organization Calling for Inclusive Credit
The Buy Now, Pay Later platform Affirm has announced that it’s become the latest member of an organization resolved to improve access to affordable credit.
About Affirm Joining MoreThanFair:
This week, Affirm revealed that it had joined MoreThanFair. As a member, the company is affirming a commitment to help make lending more inclusive and transparent.
According to Affirm, it already empowers consumers by offering flexible pay-over-time options. This includes products with no late fees or hidden fees (such as deferred interest or compounded interest). To date, the platform has offered more than $100 billion in loans to more than 50 million users. Affirm states that these loans have helped customers save $387 million in late fees.
On their website, MoreThanFair states that traditional credit score-based lending decisions have left millions of Americans without affordable credit options. Instead, the organization recommends modern credit systems, such as those powered by AI, which they say lead to fairer credit outcomes — regardless of a borrower’s race, gender, or ethnicity.
MoreThanFair members include organizations such as the American FinTech Council, the National Bankers Association, and the National Consumer Law Center, as well as FinTechs including LendingClub, Oportun, Upstart, and more.
What They’re Saying:
Announcing Affirm’s support for MoreThanFair, the company’s Chief Legal Officer Katherine Adkins said, “Affirm was founded with a mission to deliver honest financial products that improve lives. We are excited to work with our fellow MoreThanFair members to champion responsible credit, promote choice and transparency, and help further mainstream consumer-first financial products like Affirm’s.”
Additionally, Nat Hoopes — the VP and Head of Government & Regulatory Affairs for founding MoreThanFair member Upstart — stated, ” We’re excited Affirm is joining MoreThanFair. They will bring fresh perspectives on the market that can bolster our efforts to advance faster progress toward a more inclusive and affordable credit system for all.”
My Thoughts:
To me, this news highlights a notable divide that currently exists in the personal finance community. While I’d imagine that many people would be in support of making credit more accessible and affordable, I’m not sure how many of those same people would see BNPL services as delivering on that promise. Similarly, we’ve seen other examples where regulators accuse platforms of being deceptive or even predatory while the service in question maintains that they’re filling a need and doing so with as much transparency as possible.
Personally, while I have my concerns about BNPL in general, I do see it as a positive alternative to more expensive short-term financing options. Moreover, I too support MoreThanFair’s core tenets of affordable and inclusive credit. Thus, I think this is positive news overall and hope that this growing organization can make a difference in the industry going forward.
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