Affirm, which works within the buy now, pay later (BNPL) field, are going to be joining the bitcoin space, CNBC reported.
Affirm CEO Max Levchin has said his company is functioning on a feature to permit consumers to shop for and sell cryptocurrencies from their savings accounts, consistent with the report, although he didn’t specify a time-frame .
“It’s time for Affirm to support cryptocurrencies during a way that feels organic to us,” Levchin said, per the report. “We will soon leverage our savings accounts to seamlessly enable crypto ownership.”
Affirm are going to be competing during a crowded space as everyone from online lenders to mobile investing apps and crypto exchanges are trying to attract new, younger customers, the report stated.
Several emerging FinTechs started off with more niche offerings. But now they’re attempting to bring more banking and financial services to people that are trying to avoid getting to physical branches, instead expecting products to possess easy, simple user interfaces, consistent with the report.
Coinbase has debuted a function in the week to let users get paid in bitcoin or other cryptos, with direct deposit of paychecks to Coinbase accounts. Other services offering that sort of feature include PayPal, SoFi, Chime and Robinhood, the report stated. And Upgrade, which provides affordable credit, debuted a feature earlier this year to let users earn 1.5% bitcoin rewards on every purchase with their Upgrade mastercard .
Earlier this month, Affirm unrolled a partnership with TicketNetwork, which can let customers buy their tickets on TicketNetwork’s resale market in installments.
The agreement came as demand for tickets to in-person events rose as pandemic restrictions lifted. TicketNetwork CEO Don Vaccaro said the power to pay during a BNPL fashion would have a positive effect overall.
“The return of in-person events has generated significant excitement and demand among consumers, which we expect to continue,” Affirm Chief Commercial Officer Silvija Martincevic said at the time.