Consumer complaint received 2025-09-17 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Getting the loan — 
Company: Affirm Holdings, Inc
State: IA

Complaint narrative:
What happened On XX/XX/2025, I attempted to use XXXX XXXX Installments ( Affirm ) and was blocked from completing identity verification. 
XXXXXXXX XXXX I called XXXX XXXX and was told to call XXXX because they claimed my credit report phone number was outdated. 
XXXXXXXX XXXX I called XXXX and they confirmed my number has been updated for a while. 
XXXXXXXX XXXX  I called XXXX XXXX back, asked for a supervisor, and was connected. 
During the supervisor call, they admitted my current phone number is on my account but insisted the system could not verify me because of an extended fraud alert mismatch. I was told my only options were to wait XXXX hours, reinstall the app/clear browser cache, or contact XXXX  again ( despite XXXX already confirming my information was correct ). 
XXXX XXXX refused to provide any alternate method of identity verification ( such as uploading ID or documents ) and continued to misrepresent the situation, which left me unable to access the installment loan product. 
I believe this is misleading, unfair, and harmful, since they are misrepresenting credit bureau data, refusing reasonable verification alternatives, and blocking my access to financial services. 
Conversation transcript with XXXX XXXX supervisor ( XXXX ) Continue with your request, is that correct? 
( XXXX ) Um, yes, there's a block of my account. 
( XXXX ) And I asked if there's like another way to verify my identity and I was told that no the only way they can do it ( XXXX ) Is if they update my phone number to call XXXX. 
( XXXX ) So I called XXXX and they told me my number has been updated for a while now. 
( XXXX ) So they I don't know why they can't see my current number because I updated it as soon as I got it. 
( XXXX ) Okay, got it, thank you for sharing this video with me and actually I should mention this is really weird because if the information has been updated ( XXXX ) Affirm should be able to see it on our end. However, the main issue right now is that I see the application submitted ( XXXX ) under your account for today and the system keeps showing that ( XXXX ) It's requesting more information and the reason why is extended fraud alert that is in ( XXXX ) your credit that keeps asking has a block and when I pull out the details of this extended fraud alert ( XXXX ) the system sent me a notification immediately that there is a mismatch between ( XXXX ) the phone number that is on your account and the phone number linked to this extended fraud alert. 
( XXXX ) So let 's do the following XXXX XXXX, okay? 
( XXXX ) Let me refresh the credit report to see if with this, when we refresh this information at the moment ( XXXX ) that you try to make the request the system will consider just your most recent information. 
( XXXX ) So depending on the outcome that we see after that then we can move from there, okay? 
( XXXX ) Okay. 
( XXXX ) My pleasure actually, thank you for taking the time to bring this to my attention. It's loading right now. 
( XXXX ) So allow me XXXX more minute, please. 
( XXXX ) Okay. 
( XXXX ) Because with this the system should be able to see the recent information there because we make a soft check in your credit information. 
( XXXX ) When you submit that request, we should be able to see if the information has been updated. 
( XXXX ) Okay, so the system refreshed successfully the credit report from our end, so XXXX moment. 
( XXXX ) Let me just refresh all over again. 
( XXXX ) Okay. 
( XXXX ) Okay, so in this case, this is what we can do XXXX XXXX. 
( XXXX ) Since I just refreshed the credit report, you can try XXXX more time to submit the request. 
( XXXX ) Once you submit the request, if the information has been updated the system should send you a notification to your phone. 
( XXXX ) Okay to your device so you can proceed with the verification directly from your end. 
( XXXX ) You can try and I can stay on the line while you are trying to see what is happening. 
( XXXX ) Let me try again because it said the same thing. 
( XXXX ) Okay, um, it says the same thing. 
( XXXX ) Is it still saying the same thing? Let me check here. 
( XXXX ) Okay, yes, I see. I think that there is no email that has been sent to you as well to verify your information. 
( XXXX ) In this case, XXXX XXXX, because right now the issue is that we do not have an option to change the phone number that is there. 
( XXXX ) Because right now the issue is that on our end your phone number is okay, we do have your current phone number. 
( XXXX ) However, it is the phone number that is on this extended fraud alert that is causing the issue. 
( XXXX ) XXXX recommendation when this happens, since we just refreshed the credit report, ( XXXX ) in some cases it could take up to XXXX hours for this to be fully cleared. 
( XXXX ) So we can wait XXXX hours and you can try once again. 
( XXXX ) But instead I have XXXX recommendations : ( XXXX ) First, if you are using the Affirm app, remove the app and then reinstall it. 
( XXXX ) This will allow the system to clear the details. 
( XXXX ) Or if you are using the website in a web browser, clear the cache and history of the web browser and then try all over again. 
( XXXX ) This is the first recommendation. The second recommendation if this is still not working is to contact directly all the credit agencies. 
( XXXX ) I do understand that you already contacted XXXX  before but in this case it will be to speak with them again ( XXXX ) to see how long it takes for the information to be fully reflected in your credit report. 
( XXXX ) Okay, so there's no other way other than thisthe phone number that you guys can verify people 's information? 
( XXXX ) For this XXXX XXXX, unless the phone number changes on the credit or this extended fraud alert is removed, ( XXXX ) the system does not have any other option. This is because of the extended fraud alert in your credit report. 
( XXXX ) When this happens, we do not have another way to verify your information. 
( XXXX ) Because it is a must for us to open a verification window in order to continue with your request. 
( XXXX ) Okay. 
( XXXX ) That's fine, well, thank you so much for your help. 
( XXXX ) Thank you XXXX XXXX for your time and patience. Do you have any other questions? 
( XXXX ) Not really. 
( XXXX ) Thank you for using Affirm and I hope you have a good rest of your day. 
( XXXX ) Yeah, you too.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation