#419: Max Levchin of Affirm

Max Levchin is one of the giants of the fintech space. He was a co-founder and CTO of the original fintech, PayPal, and now he leads Affirm, the company that is reinventing how we pay for things at the point of sale.

The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) space continues to be hot. Consumers love it and so the volume of merchandise funded in this way keeps growing every year. But what is behind that growth and why is BNPL so much better for consumers than credit cards? We delve into a detailed discussion of this and more in the latest episode of the Fintech One-on-One podcast.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The catalyst for the founding of Affirm.
• Why they decided to start in point-of-sale lending.
• Why transparency was integral to their offering.
• Why Max thinks credit cards have a lot in common with payday loans.
• How the CFPB views BNPL.
• The types of loans Affirm offers and the different ways they make money.
• How Peloton became such a big part of their business.
• The key to landing partnerships with both Walmart and Amazon.
• How they are adapting their credit models to drive lower delinquencies.
• Max's thoughts on their recent layoffs.
• How they have engaged with the CFPB.
• Why there has been a bunch of fintech startups by ex-Affirm execs.
• His surprising view on the future of cards as a payment vehicle.

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