SAN FRANCISCO–Max Levchin, a co-founder of PayPal, announced he has raised $100 million in new funding for a new start-up, Affirm, which is “on a mission to reinvent the way people get loans.”
In particular, Affirm said it is “rethinking” the way shoppers, and Millennials in particular, borrow money by letting them obtain a micro-loan at a point of sale instead of using a credit card.
Total funding for Affirm has now reached $425 million.
Affirm’s service, Buy with Affirm, lets online shoppers pay for purchases in multiple monthly installments. To apply, consumers submit their name, mobile phone number, birthday, and last four digits of their Social Security number. In measuring risk, Affirm said it takes into account data from sources such as bank accounts to determine how much cash a borrower has and how frequently they are collecting paychecks.
According to Affirm, the number of merchants using its service has grown from 100 to 700 in the past year, and Levchin said it will soon announce partnerships with larger retailers.