Affirm Unveils In-Store Pay Later Option Through Apple Pay

Affirm Holdings, Inc. AFRM recently announced the expansion of its payment options to in-store purchases via Apple Pay using iPhones. This new offering enhances flexibility, transparency and choice for Apple Pay users in the US, building on Affirm’s earlier integration for online and in-app checkouts. 

To add Affirm for in-store use, users simply need to open the Apple Wallet app on their iPhone running iOS 26 or later, tap the Add button, choose Pay Later Options and select Affirm. They can then follow the guided steps to complete the setup process, enabling Affirm as a payment method within Apple Wallet.

When making an in-store purchase, users can double-click the side button on their iPhone, select Affirm and tap Pay Later to initiate Affirm’s quick eligibility check. Upon approval, they can select a payment plan that fits their needs. The purchase is completed by authenticating with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, and holding the device near the payment reader. 

Approved consumers using Affirm can divide qualifying purchases into biweekly or monthly installments, with rates starting as low as 0% APR. Besides, AFRM never imposes late fees or hidden charges.

The facility to make installment payments instills greater peace of mind, as it alleviates the financial strain on consumers and boosts their purchasing power. This, in turn, paves the way for the widespread adoption of AFRM’s diverse range of Pay Later Options, bolsters its consumer base, increases transaction count and brings higher consumer interest income. Transaction count increased 47.2% year over year in fiscal 2025.

How are Competitors Faring?

Some of Affirm’s key competitors in the buy now pay later (BNPL) space are PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL and Visa Inc. V, both of which enjoy a strong presence in the BNPL market.

PayPal offers BNPL services under the PayPal Pay Later brand across the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan (via its Paidy brand). It processed 6.2 billion transactions in the second quarter of 2025. PYPL’s net revenues rose 5% year over year to $8.3 billion. 

Visa offers BNPL solutions via issuers and fintechs. Its processed transactions increased 10% year over year in the third quarter of fiscal 2025. V’s total revenues advanced 14% year over year, supported by year-over-year increases of 8% and 12% in payments volume and cross-border volume, respectively.

Affirm’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Affirm have surged 103.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 40.3% growth. 

From a valuation standpoint, AFRM trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 6.99, above the industry average of 5.82.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Affirm’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies 473.3% improvement from the year-ago period. The consensus mark for revenues indicates 23.4% year-over-year growth. 

AFRM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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