Stripe and Affirm Team Up to Enter UK BNPL Market

Amazon Business is Amazon's B2B procurement marketplace, combining business pricing with purchasing controls and analytics for organizations ranging from small firms to large enterprises. Affirm had already offered pay-over-time financing to U.S. retail shoppers on Amazon.com since 2021, later expanding to Canada and Amazon Pay. Extending the relationship into business purchasing is significant because installment credit can help sole proprietors fund equipment and supplies while smoothing cash flow.

Amazon and Affirm announced the expanded partnership on Nov. 2, 2023, making Affirm the first pay-over-time provider available at Amazon Business checkout. The service began rolling out that day to eligible U.S. sole proprietors and was due to reach all eligible sole-proprietor customers by Black Friday on Nov. 24. Approved borrowers could choose customized terms of three to 48 months. Affirm said a $200 purchase at 15% APR would cost $34.81 a month for six months, or $208.84 in total, with no late or hidden fees.

Affirm has challenged the credit card market with buy now, pay later products that carry no revolving interest or late fees. On February 11, 2025, it partnered with FIS to embed installment-payment services into bank debit cards and mobile apps, connecting with more than 335,000 merchants at the time. Affirm Edge goes further by helping banks retain customers and transaction volume, while Affirm handles underwriting and loan servicing.

Affirm unveiled Affirm Edge at an investor forum on May 12, 2026. The service will use FIS and Fiserv to integrate BNPL directly into banking and credit union apps, targeting a market of about $140 billion. It offers repayment terms of up to 48 months and access to 515,000 active merchants as of March 31, along with 0% APR offers, challenging the card networks dominated by Visa and Mastercard.

Affirm and Stripe have worked together since 2021, initially bringing buy now, pay later, or BNPL, to online checkout and Stripe Terminal. As AI agents begin finding products and placing orders for consumers, their ability to recognize secure payment credentials and installment options will be critical to the global BNPL transaction market, which exceeds $300 billion.

Affirm announced on March 3, 2026, that it would support Stripe’s Shared Payment Tokens, or SPT. Once authorized by a user, an AI agent can complete an eligibility check, select a fixed installment plan and make a payment within the platform. Stripe processes the transaction without exposing sensitive credentials. Plans are available with APRs as low as 0%. Merchants using Stripe directly will be the first to gain access, with support for other merchants expected to expand later in the year.