Affirm is seeking ways to address an issue with some debit card customers’ transactions not being approved, a top executive said last month during a fireside chat with investors.
During comments about “surprise user experiences” in the Dec. 13 presentation, Affirm Chief Financial Officer Robert O’Hare said Affirm card users are experiencing too many card declines, although he provided few details about the issue.
“We want to make sure that when you go to use your card, it does what you want it to do,” he said. “We're focused on reducing declinations.”
Former CFO Michael Linford previously referenced declines in a June 14 fireside chat. While the San Francisco-based company is proud of the cards, “there is still a mountain of work to do,” he said at the time. “We know that there's user experience pain points that have to be addressed,” he said. “Unexpected declines, those have to be addressed.” Linford has since been promoted to chief operating officer.
Affirm is always “laser-focused” on improving its product, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement, although the statement did not provide more specifics on why cards are being declined or offer any details about the extent of the problem.
Affirm has roughly 1.4 million debit card users, O’Hare said in the December chat. Cardholders can pay from their bank account, like a traditional debit card, or choose a buy now, pay later plan for some purchases.
The company processed $607 million in debit card volume during the three months ending on Sept. 30, according to the company’s most recent earnings report.
Affirm is also working on consumer education to make sure cardholders understand how to use the card, O’Hare said. The Affirm card is “unique,” he said, although he provided few specifics.
“It's a bit innovative relative to how other debit cards, or even credit cards work,” O’Hare said. “We've spent a lot of time and thought around making sure that the consumer has confidence that when they go to make a purchase, whether it's a cup of coffee or a big screen TV, that the card is going to work for them and it can support a whole range of transactions.”
A page on the company’s website lists a variety of reasons for an Affirm debit card being declined, including a problem with the bank account that the card is linked to, or a purchase exceeding the user’s spending limit. Those limits vary between cardholders and are based on factors such as the cardholder’s spending history, Affirm’s website says.
The BNPL player has a group dedicated to solving declines, O’Hare said during the presentation last month.
“We've got a small sort of SWAT team within the Affirm card program that's focused on an acronym we call ‘surprise user experiences,’” he said
