Affirm plants 48-month, 22% APR credit inside Amazon's UK checkout
Amazon.co.uk is now brokering Affirm instalments, up to 48 months at a fixed 22% APR, with the loan book and the Section 75 claims resting on the lenders. It arrives in the first UK holiday season with buy now, pay later under FCA rules.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
A 22% loan at Britain's biggest checkout
Since 2 October, a 48-month loan at a representative 22% APR has sat inside Amazon's UK checkout. On baskets of £50 or more, eligible shoppers choose between that interest-bearing plan and a 0% Pay-in-3, across millions of products, with an instant eligibility decision 1. Ruth Spratt, Affirm's UK country manager, calls the deal "a big milestone" for its UK and global expansion 4. No late fees, the announcement repeats, as though the interest were free.
Amazon sells. Affirm carries the loan
Amazon is a credit broker here, not the lender: it introduces shoppers to a panel of lenders that includes Affirm 1. The loan book, and the Section 75 claims on every purchase above £100, belong to those lenders 1.
Timing is the story. Since 15 July, UK buy now, pay later has sat inside the FCA's consumer credit regime, with mandatory authorisation, affordability checks and Financial Ombudsman access 5. Affirm UK Limited is authorised, firm number 756087, and CPP Investments is among the partners funding its instalment credit 4.
What is landing at Amazon is priced consumer credit, not free BNPL, three months after the market regulated it.
A holiday book of anxious borrowers
The demand is real. PayPal's survey of 2,005 US adults found 55% have used or considered BNPL, and three in four of those expect to use it for holiday shopping; 58% are more worried about their finances than a year ago, yet 64% still plan to spend the same or more 2. For Amazon's basket the sharpest number is 42%: the share who say they are more likely to complete a purchase when BNPL sits at checkout 2.
Worried yet spending: 42% say BNPL at checkout makes them more likely to buy
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Used or considered BNPL | 55% |
| More worried about finances than a year ago | 58% |
| Plan to spend the same or more this holiday | 64% |
| More likely to buy with BNPL at checkout | 42% |
Britain looks similar. Experian counted more than 100 million BNPL transactions by 8.5 million customers in 2025, worth over £7bn 5, and the FCA had the market above £13bn in 2024 6.
The stock has already priced the growth
Affirm's revenue has grown between 29.6% and 46.6% year on year in each of the past eight quarters 8.
Affirm revenue up 30% to 47% year on year for eight straight quarters
Data
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '24 | $0.7B |
| Q4 '24 | $0.87B |
| Q1 '25 | $0.78B |
| Q2 '25 | $0.88B |
| Q3 '25 | $0.93B |
| Q4 '25 | $1.12B |
| Q1 '26 | $1.04B |
| Q2 '26 | $1.17B |
The shares are up 59% since March, by late-September counts 3, even after a month that took them down 10.5% to $69.61, with Klarna down 12.5% and both behind a financials index that fell 7.9% 7.
The repayment record is the bull case: Afterpay says 96% of its Black Friday and Cyber Monday borrowers repaid on time or early 2, and Experian puts on-time UK repayment at 98.5% 5. Fair4All Finance answers with the cost of the checks: 10% to 30% of current users could fail them 5.
The first regulated Christmas
The Ombudsman expects about 2,000 BNPL complaints by the end of March 5. The dated test for the book itself is Affirm's fiscal second quarter, the one ending 31 December: by the calendar in its filings, it is the first to hold the UK checkout at all, and it holds all of Black Friday week 18. Any disclosure there of the UK book's size or delinquency is the first read on whether 22% APR credit earns its spread.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
