Walmart and Affirm strike a deal that will bring BNPL payments to self-checkout kiosks across the US
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Retail giant Walmart recently expanded its partnership with Affirm Holdings. The new deal will bring Affirm’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans to self-checkout kiosks to more than 4,500 Walmart stores across the US.
Affirm shared the news of the new deal with Walmart this Tuesday, and soon after the publication, the company’s shares skyrocketed by over 16%.
How does BNPL at self-checkout kiosks work?
Apart from self-checkouts at stores, Affirm’s installment options are also available on Walmart’s app and website, as well as Auto Centres and Walmart Vision.
The new deal allows those who wish to buy at least $144 worth of products — apart from groceries — to split their payments over three to 24 months through Affirm. The company’s spokesperson said that financing is limited to $4,000.
All that users need to do is bring the products to self-checkout kiosks, scan them, log onto their Affirm app or reach the company’s website, and enter the details, including the last four digits of their social security number. Once their request is approved, they will receive a barcode that they scan at the kiosk, and their payment will be finalized.
As mentioned earlier, the new deal is only the expansion of the existing one. Walmart and Affirm have actually been working together since 2019, although Affirm’s services were only available with employee assistance. Even so, they were present at around 4,000 Walmart Supercenters, as well as on its US website. Walmart also works with Affirm’s rival, Klarna, which allows it to offer BNPL services in Canada.
BNPL usage surges compared to last year
Affirm’s SVP of revenue, Pat Suh, commented, stating that the company’s partnership expansion with Walmart and bringing its transparent monthly pay-over-time options to Walmart’s self-checkout kiosks will help US consumers increase their purchasing power. Suh noted that this will be particularly useful now, dring the holiday shopping season, but also in the future.
US shoppers are increasingly delaying payments as US credit card balances have reached record highs. Along the way, defaults are seeing a sharp rise, as well.
Some reports claim that BNPL services now account for 5% of global e-commerce payments, with expectations for the figure to rise to 6% by 2026. There have also been claims that the number of users who opted for BNPL has soared to 42.5% on Cyber Monday compared to the figures from 2022. Shopping worth that went through this method of payment exceeded $940 millin, as per Adobe Analytics data.
