Consumer complaint received 2025-05-17 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Problem with additional add-on products or services — 
Company: Affirm Holdings, Inc
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a formal complaint against Affirm , Inc., a financial technology company offering buy now, pay later credit services. My complaint concerns Affirms misleading and inconsistent presentation of purchasing power in my account, which has caused confusion about my available credit and could potentially lead to uninformed financial decisions. 

Affirm advertises the purchasing power feature as an estimate of the amount of credit a consumer has available based on their risk profile. I reasonably understood this to be a reliable guide to how much I could spend using Affirm. However, my recent experience with Affirms purchasing power display was inconsistent and not transparent, ultimately misrepresenting my true credit availability. I am bringing this to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus attention because I believe Affirms practices may violate the Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices ( UDAAP ) provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. 

The following events illustrate the inconsistency and lack of transparency in Affirms purchasing power estimates on my account : XX/XX/year> : My Affirm account displayed a purchasing power of {$7200.00}. This figure was presented as the amount I could purportedly spend using Affirm at that time. 
Later in XX/XX/year> : Without any warning, rationale, or notification to me, Affirm reduced the displayed purchasing power to {$1600.00}. I discovered this change upon logging into my account ; Affirm provided no explanation for the drastic drop ( from {$7200.00} to {$1600.00} ). 
XX/XX/year> : Despite my account still showing only {$1600.00} in purchasing power, Affirm approved me for a {$3000.00} purchase in full, without requiring any down payment. In other words, on XX/XX/XXXX I initiated a transaction of {$3000.00} through Affirm and received instant approval for the entire amount, even though the app continued to list my purchasing power as {$1600.00}. 

These facts demonstrate a glaring discrepancy in the information Affirm provided. The difference between what Affirm said I could spend ( {$1600.00} ) and what it actually approved ( {$3000.00} ) is {$1300.00} far above the displayed limit. At no point did Affirm update my purchasing power figure or explain why it was able to approve an amount nearly double my supposed limit. 

Affirms handling of my purchasing power is misleading and contradictory : Inconsistent Figures : Affirms own system contradicted itself by showing a low credit estimate while simultaneously approving a much higher loan amount. This over {$1300.00} discrepancy directly contradicts Affirms claim that purchasing power is a reliable, risk-based estimate of my spending limit. If the estimate were truly accurate and risk-based, I should not be approved for an amount so far above the displayed number without any change in my circumstances. 

Lack of Explanation or Transparency : Affirm provided no notice or rationale for reducing my purchasing power from {$7200.00} to {$1600.00}. The drop was sudden and unexplained. Furthermore, even after approving {$3000.00}, Affirm did not adjust the displayed purchasing power or clarify the reasons for this inconsistency. The absence of any communication or clarification from Affirm left me confused about why my available credit estimate shrank, and then why I was allowed to exceed that estimate. This lack of transparency is especially concerning in a financial context, where consumers rely on clear information to make decisions. 

Affirm markets the purchasing power feature as a useful tool for consumers to understand their available credit. In practice, however, the unexplained reduction and the subsequent override of the limit misrepresented my true credit availability. I was led to believe I had only {$1600.00} of credit to use, when in reality Affirm was willing to extend more. Conversely, having once seen {$7200.00} available then seeing it slashed to {$1600.00} without explanation made me question if my creditworthiness had suddenly deteriorated yet even that didnt hold true given the later {$3000.00} approval. 

These inconsistencies had a material, negative impact on me as a consumer : Erosion of Trust and Reliance : I reasonably relied on the purchasing power display to gauge how much I could spend using Affirm. It is natural for a user to trust the platforms own credit estimate. Based on the {$1600.00} figure, I curtailed my expectations and plans, assuming any purchase above {$1600.00} would be denied or require a significant down payment. Affirms conflicting actions ( approving {$3000.00} ) showed that the figure was not dependable. This misrepresentation eroded my trust in the platforms information. 

Confusion and Financial Planning : The unexplained drop from {$7200.00} to {$1600.00} caused significant confusion. I was left guessing whether some negative event ( like a credit issue or an internal policy change ) had occurred. This uncertainty can affect financial planning for instance, I might delay or cancel intended purchases or seek credit elsewhere because I believed my Affirm credit availability had drastically decreased. 

Risk of Uninformed Debt Obligations : Most importantly, the inconsistency could have led me to take on more debt than I thought I was eligible for. Had I simply proceeded with the {$3000.00} loan offer without noticing or questioning why it exceeded my displayed limit, I would have been legally obligated to repay the full {$3000.00} plus interest under Affirms loan terms. Essentially, Affirms system was ready to extend a loan far above the amount it told me I could borrow a classic setup for potentially trapping an unwary consumer in a larger debt. It was only through my own caution and review that I recognized something was amiss. A less vigilant consumer might have assumed Affirms systems were in order and accepted the loan, unknowingly stepping beyond the credit limit they relied on. This scenario underscores how Affirms misleading information can lead consumers into financial agreements under false premises. 

In summary, Affirms inconsistent presentation of purchasing power materially misled me about my credit position and options. I was unable to accurately understand how much I could safely finance through the platform. This could have resulted in serious financial consequences, such as taking on unaffordable debt or missing opportunities due to understated credit availability. 

I believe Affirms actions and representations in this matter may constitute unfair and deceptive practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Acts UDAAP provisions : Deceptive Representation : Affirms portrayal of purchasing power gave a false impression of my available credit. A reasonable consumer ( myself included ) would read the purchasing power figure as a truthful, informed estimate of how much they can spend with Affirm. In reality, that figure was unreliable. Providing a specific number ( down to the dollar ) that is so easily contradicted by the companys own lending decision is inherently misleading. I consider this a deceptive practice because it misrepresented a key piece of information : the amount of credit I could obtain. 

Unfair Practice : The lack of explanation or clarity around these changes is unfair to the consumer. Affirm unilaterally changed an important metric ( credit estimate ) without notice, disadvantaging me by withholding information needed to make informed choices. It is unfair to present consumers with figures that can change drastically without reason, or to invite reliance on an estimate that the company does not actually adhere to. Consumers can not protect their interests or shop for credit knowledgeably if the information provided by the lender is inconsistent and opaque. 

Risk of Abusive Outcome : While I do not claim that Affirm set out intentionally to trap me, the outcome of their systems behavior could be considered abusive in effect. By potentially coaxing consumers into larger loans than they expect or understand, Affirms practice could take unreasonable advantage of consumers trust and lack of understanding of the behind-the-scenes underwriting. In my case, if I had assumed Affirms systems were consistent, I might have taken on a {$3000.00} debt believing Affirm had somehow updated my limit, when in fact they had not communicated any such update. This could be seen as taking advantage of the consumers reasonable assumptions in a way that is detrimental. 

Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act ( 12 U.S.C. 5531, 5536 ), it is unlawful for a company to engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices. Affirms inconsistent and misleading purchasing power display appears to meet the criteria of a deceptive practice ( and possibly unfair or abusive ), as it misled me and likely other consumers about a fundamental aspect of the credit service.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation