Affirm Applies to Establish Industrial Loan Charter

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Affirm aims to establish a bank subsidiary called Affirm Bank.

Affirm submitted applications to the Nevada Financial Institutions Division and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to establish a Nevada-chartered industrial loan company, the company said in a Friday (Jan. 23) press release.

The proposed bank subsidiary would enable Affirm to continue scaling while having an FDIC-insured institution, according to the release.

This would help Affirm expand access to its financial products, complement the company’s current businessand bank partnership models and spur development of new products and services, the release said.

If approved, Affirm Bank would operate as a wholly owned, Nevada-chartered, FDIC-insured bank subsidiary of Affirm, with its own independent governance and internal controls, per the release.

“A banking subsidiary would strengthen and diversify Affirm’s platform, and help us bring honest financial products to more people,” Affirm founder and CEO Max Levchin said in the release. “This is about expanding what we can do for consumers and merchants, and building for the long term.”

Affirm reported in November 2025 that during the most recent quarter, durable demand for transparent credit and 0% installment options helped increase the company’s gross merchandise volume by 42% to $10.8 billion and its revenue by 34% to $933 million.

Levchin said during an earnings call that Affirm’s tests of cash flow underwriting help expand access for “younger consumers and folks who are overlooked by the rest of the ecosystem,” particularly millennials and Gen Z borrowers who “typically refuse to borrow on credit cards” but want flexibility to finance everyday purchases.

PYMNTS reported in October 2025 that many FinTechs are turning to bank charters as a means of expanding product lines, cutting through state-by-state licensing and gaining direct access to the U.S. financial system.

It was reported Friday that U.K.-headquartered FinTech Revolut is preparing to pursue a standalone U.S. banking license to gain a clearer path to lending and other core bank services in the world’s largest retail finance market.

In April 2025, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance said that Fiserv merchant acquirer limited purpose bank (MALPB) had become the nation’s first chartered MALPB to process card-based payment transactions.