The average student loan payment is $351. Between such a high monthly payment and rent, finding the money to furnish your home or buy a new computer can seem daunting.
That’s where an Affirm personal loan can help. A personal loan is unsecured debt, meaning you don’t need to put up any valuables as collateral and you have fixed monthly payments. You can spread out your purchase over several months, rather than needing the cash all at once.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to finance new purchases without using a credit card, here’s what you should know about Affirm personal loans.
Affirm personal loan review
With so many personal loan lenders available, it’s hard to decide which one is right for you. Many are designed for large purchases or used to consolidate your debt. Plus, sometimes lenders require you to take out a larger loan than what you need.
Affirm addresses this problem by offering loans that cover smaller purchases. If you need a loan to buy a new couch, mattress, or musical instrument, an Affirm personal loan might be a better option than other loans.
Affirm, which has its headquarters in San Francisco, partners with retailers. You can shop online and use Affirm to finance your purchase through the retailer’s site.
About Affirm personal loans
With most personal loans, the lender issues you the funds and you can use them however you like. Affirm personal loans work differently. You can use them at select retailers, including Casper, Wayfair, Expedia, Giant, Tradesy, Reverb, Joybird, and Motorola.
When you make a purchase through one of the partner retailers, you can spread out the payments for up to 12 months.
Unlike other forms of credit, Affirm personal loans are not a line of credit. They’re one-time loans. If you make multiple purchases, you’ll need to take out multiple loans.
Using the Affirm online platform
You can apply for an Affirm loan when you check out through a partner retailer or through the lender’s website.
To sign up for an account, the site will prompt you to enter your name, email address, mobile phone number, birthdate, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. Once you enter that information, Affirm will perform a soft credit check to decide your creditworthiness.
Image credit: Affirm
If approved, you can now shop. When you’re ready to make a purchase, you can enter the total from your online shopping cart on Affirm’s site. You then choose an amount between $50 and $10,000. You’ll be provided virtual card information to complete the purchase. With some partner retailers, you might select Affirm at checkout instead.
Image credit: Affirm
If you prefer to shop with your smartphone, Affirm also has a mobile app you can use.
Image credit: Affirm
Affirm personal loan rates and fees
Affirm boasts that its loans have no late, service, or prepayment fees or other hidden costs.
When it comes to repayment, purchases of $100 or more can be spread out over three, six, or 12 months. For purchases less than $100, you can only choose three or six months. But some merchants have their own terms, such as 30-day payment terms for purchases less than $50.
One downside to keep in mind is that Affirm has relatively high interest rates. Some other personal loan lenders have rates as low as 4.98%. Affirm’s rates range from 10.00% to 30.00%, depending on your credit.
Those higher interest rates can cost you. If you purchased a $1,000 mattress with an Affirm personal loan at 30.00% interest and repaid it over 12 months, you’d pay $1,170, adding nearly $200 to the cost of your loan. By contrast, if you took out a $1,000 loan and qualified for a 4.98% interest rate, you’d pay just $1,027 over 12 months, saving you nearly $150.
You can use our personal loan calculator to find out how much you’d pay in interest with a loan.
Affirm eligibility requirements
To qualify for an Affirm personal loan, you must be a U.S. resident and be at least 18 years old. If you live in Alabama or you’re a ward of the state in Nebraska, you must be at least 19.
Using an Affirm personal loan can help you establish credit. Your payments are reported to Experian. But any missed payments will also be reported, so it’s important to make your payments on time.
Affirm customer service
If you need help or need to dispute a purchase, you can contact Affirm’s customer service team by emailing help@affirm.com. The company doesn’t offer phone support.
You can also follow Affirm on Facebook and Twitter.
Taking out a personal loan
An Affirm personal loan can help you spread out necessary purchases over several months, making it more affordable on your budget.
Because of Affirm’s high interest rates, it’s a good idea to shop around before applying for a loan. To get started, here’s how to find the best personal loan rates.
Interested in a personal loan?
Here are the top personal loan lenders of 2018!| Lender | Rates (APR) | Loan Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 Includes AutoPay discount. Important Disclosures for SoFi. SoFi Disclosures
2 Important Disclosures for Citizens Bank. Citizens Bank Disclosures
* Important Disclosures for Upgrade Bank Upgrade Bank Disclosures
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 | 7.73% - 29.99% | $1,000 - $50,000 | Check rate nowon SLH's secure site |
 | 5.83% - 14.74%1 | $5,000 - $100,000 | Check rate nowon SLH's secure site |
 | 5.96% - 35.97%* | $1,000 - $50,000 | Visit Upgrade |
 | 8.00% - 25.00% | $5,000 - $35,000 | Check rate nowon SLH's secure site |
 | 4.99% - 29.99% | $10,000 - $35,000 | Visit FreedomPlus |
 | 4.99% - 16.24%2 | $5,000 - $50,000 | Visit Citizens |
 | 15.49% - 34.49% | $2,000 - $25,000 | Visit LendingPoint |
 | 5.99% - 35.89% | $1,000 - $40,000 | Visit LendingClub |
 | 5.49% - 18.24% | $5,000 - $75,000 | Visit Earnest |
 | 9.95% - 35.99% | $2,000 - $35,000 | Visit Avant |