BNPL fintech Affirm applies for Nevada bank charter

Affirm Holdings has applied with the Nevada Financial Institutions Division and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to form Affirm Bank.

An industrial bank charter would enable the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company to continue to scale. If approved, the bank would operate as a wholly owned, Nevada-chartered, FDIC-insured subsidiary.

“A banking subsidiary would strengthen and diversify Affirm’s platform, and help us bring honest financial products to more people,” Max Levchin, Affirm’s founder and CEO, said in a press release. “This is about expanding what we can do for consumers and merchants, and building for the long term.”

John Marion would serve as the bank’s president. Marion, Affirm’s vice president of bank strategy, previously served as president of Hatch Bank.