Affirm at Walmart – Buy Now, Pay Later and Layaway

• Walmart is replacing its layaway plan with a buy now, pay later method using the Affirm app.
• The Affirm app will allow users to scan a barcode at a Walmart checkout and repay their total purchase amount in monthly installments.
• The Affirm app allows its customers to make purchases up to $2000 and repay them in two years.

For years, Walmart has used a layaway plan to aid people with purchasing items. However, before the 2021 holiday season, they announced that Walmart stores would no longer use the long-standing layaway program. Instead, they started to promote an alternative to the traditional layaway plan to their customers by introducing and pushing them to use Affirm.

Affirm and Walmart Partner

In 2019, Affirm partnered with Walmart to provide a different method of assisting people with obtaining the necessary items for the holiday season. Certain eligible and ineligible items can be paid using Affirm’s financing as long as the items are between $144-$2000 (including tax).  

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Eligible Items via Affirm

 The following items can be purchased using Affirm at Walmart: 

• Electronics 
• Toys
• Baby
• Auto
• Sports and outdoors

Ineligible Items via Affirm 

Ineligible items that cannot be purchased through Affirm include: 

• Pharmacy, health, and wellness
• Groceries and food
• Alcohol/Tobacco
• Baby consumables
• Pet supplies

Walmart’s partnership with Affirm extends to 4,000 Walmart Supercenters nationwide and is also available for customers to use on Walmart’s website and mobile app. The partnership allows customers to pay the bill for their purchased item(s) over time while giving them complete transparency.

How Does Affirm Work?

The Affirm account works similarly to a credit card. However, unlike some credit cards, an Affirm account does not have any prepayment, annual, hidden, or service fees required to open or maintain an account. Such benefits are appealing factors for those who wish to use Affirm for large or special occasion purchases, such as holiday purchases.

Before a Walmart customer can use the Affirm app, they must sign up and check if they are qualified to use the repayment method of the app. A minimum credit score of 640 gives you a higher chance of being qualified. According to Affirm, the eligibility check will not affect a user’s credit score.

Once a user is deemed a qualified and trusted candidate, they select a repayment period. The amount of money owed at the end of each month depends on two factors: the repayment period and the user’s credit score.

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The length of the repayment period ranges from three to 24 months, depending on the total amount of the items bought. For example, for purchases ranging from $144 to $799.99, the repayment period ranges from three to 12 months. On the other hand, for purchases between $800 and $2000, the repayment period is between 12 and 24 months. 

The APR rate on the loan ranges from 10-30%, depending on the user’s credit score. For loan repayments that take less than 12 months to repay, Affirm provides 0% APR, meaning the user only has to repay the initial amount they spent. 

Additionally, there is a disclaimer for purchases, as Affirm cannot be used to pay for food, groceries, alcoholic beverages, personal care products, and pet items. Lastly, Walmart has 0% promotional financing available for select items in their store, and they can be found on the Affirm website or app. 

After the user has completed the steps to open an Affirm account, they must show the cashier the barcode on their Affirm app once they are at a Walmart checkout. Afterward, their purchase total will show up on the app and display the amount of money the recipient owes at the end of the month. 

The Money Wrap-Up

The main benefit of Affirm is its buy now, pay later policy. For example, the holiday season, which typically ranges from October through December, results in higher monthly expenses. However, with Affirm allowing its users to pay overtime, holiday expenses can be equally distributed between the repayment months. Thus, the buy now, pay later method will help families pay their bills during the holiday season without compromising their shopping experience.