Consumer complaint received 2023-09-13
Company: Affirm Holdings, Inc
State: SD
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2023 I got two loans from Affirm , Inc., through their XXXX app, to purchase merchandise online. After my purchase was made, I subsequently received an offer from another financial institution for a balance transfer that would offer me a lower rate and save me money compared to the original loan terms with Affirm. In order to complete this balance transfer, my bank required me to provide the account number of the loan. This is where the trouble began. My account number was and is not listed anywhere in the Affirm XXXX app, nor in the loan disclosures, nor on Affirm 's website. They provide a " Loan ID '', which is eight ( 8 ) characters long, and consists of a mix of letters and numbers. When I tried to use this Loan ID as an account number with my bank, they said this was not a valid account number, as these are only numeric in nature. My bank said they could not complete the balance transfer without a valid account number. At this point I attempted to call Affirm, using the number provided in the app and on their website, XXXX. My first call reached a representative whose first language was clearly not English. Regardless, I tried making my request, which I thought was pretty simple and easy to understand : I requested the account numbers associated with my loans. When the rep provided me with my loan IDs, I attempted to correct him, advising that, per my bank, this is not an account number, and my bank will not accept it as such. The rep seemed to have a hard time understanding this, and so I requested to speak with someone in the United States. I was refused this request, told it was not possible to guarantee my call would reach a rep in the US, but I could talk to a supervisor. I agreed to this, and tried the same request with the supervisor, only to get the exact same result : my loan IDs were provided, I corrected the supervisor, asked again for an account number that was valid, like banks use, and advised the supervisor this was for the purpose of transferring the balance to another financial institution. This supervisor told me that they do not have or keep account numbers, only loan IDs, seemed confused when I pressed the issue, and refused to get me in touch with a US rep, stating it was not possible. At this time I contacted the CFPB by phone, explained the situation, and was advised this is something I could complain about. In good faith, I tried calling Affirm a second time, with the same results as before. Just before the conclusion of this second call, I advised the second supervisor, who gave the name XXXX and said she was located in XXXX XXXX, that I was going to complain to CFPB. At this point, she offered an alternative payment option : I could mail a check. I got the address to mail the checks, Affirm Inc. - Customer, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX TX XXXX. I was told I would need to include my loan ID on the check. I asked specifically whether they needed any other info other than the loan ID, and was told no, that would be sufficient. At this point I politely concluded the call. Later the same day, I received an email notification from Affirm that I had a secure message from another supervisor with their care team, named XXXX. The link in the email led me to a secure landing page at the following URL : https : //helpcenter.affirm.com. In the text of the message, it stated the following : If you would like to pay by check .... Checks must be made out to Affirm or Affirm Inc, and MUST INCLUDE YOUR AFFIRM ACCOUNT NUMBER on the check AS WELL AS the loan ID for the loan you wish to pay. 
EMPHASIS ADDED by me. Full text of the letter is below. I replied asking for my account number, and have not received a response. This is unfair and clearly deceptive. If they loaned me money, there is an account number associated with that loan, else they could not receive payments on the balance. I believe they have this practice in order to prevent consumers of their products from getting better rates for their loans, effectively locking the consumer into paying a higher rate, and paying it solely to them. Due to their refusal to provide this basic loan information, I am currently having to make higher monthly payments, compared to what I would owe my other bank monthly, and I am paying more interest. All I want is the necessary information ( my Affirm Account number, as referenced by XXXX the Supervisor at Affirms Care Team ) to transfer my balance to a more favorable lender with better terms. My first payments are already due, and paid on time, so Ive already lost money to this dishonest company, and I feel like if they can not provide me with this information, I should not have to pay them at all. That said, I will continue to make my payments on time until advised otherwise, while waiting for the CFPB to help resolve this issue. 

Full text of the message sent to me by Affirm is below. Keep in mind, at the time I received this message, I had spoken to 4 other individuals, 2 of them supervisors, asking for my Affirm account number, as referenced in the message, and had been refused every time. 

Hi XXXX, My name is XXXX and I am a supervisor on the Affirm Customer Care Team. 
Thank you for reaching out to us in regards to payment options for your Affirm loans. 

You can pay your bills or schedule automatic payments online at www.affirm.com/pay via debit card or ACH bank transfer. You can also call ( XXXX ) XXXX to submit your payment with one of our agents. Payments made via ACH take 3-5 business days to process and an email and text confirmation will be sent upon successful processing. Debit card payments process instantly and customers should get a payment confirmation after the payment is processed. 

If you would like to pay by check ( including money orders, XXXX, or cashier 's check ), mail your check to us at : Affirm Inc - Customer XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX Checks must be made out to Affirm or Affirm Inc XXXX and must include your Affirm account number on the check as well as the loan ID for the loan you wish to pay. You must submit a separate check for each loan. Allow Affirm 10 business days to process your check from the date of receipt. You will receive a text message and email from us once your check payment is applied to your Affirm account. 
Please know we take your feedback seriously, and use it to continually improve our services. If you have any questions at this time, please let me know by replying directly to this message. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX. 
Affirm Customer Care

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation