The deal would add to market competition for retail credit, specifically competing directly with Wal-Mart credit cards; Wal-Mart plans to begin a pilot program with Affirm that would offer installment loan plans in select locations and for a targeted group of online customers; source reports that the installment loans will focus on costlier items of $200 or more; with an Affirm partnership, Wal-Mart could seek to reach an expanded market demographic, specifically customers with limited credit histories; Affirm uses alternative underwriting methods and its loans average approximately $750 with repayment periods of three to 24 months and fixed annual percentage rates ranging from 10% to 30%. Source
