How Telesign completes the Affirm tech stack

About Affirm

How do you find synergies within your technology stack to provide a customer-centric experience?

eCommerce sites have added challenges today that typical brick and mortar retailers don’t. This includes verifying a customer is who they say they are without physical documentation at the Point of Sale (POS).

Affirm, a more flexible and transparent alternative to credit cards, has modernized and secured the checkout process for online retailers and customers. Their model provides shoppers an alternative to traditional credit cards, giving customers the flexibility to buy now and pay over time at thousands of online stores.

The challenge

Many risk management players in the marketplace specialize in a single offering, whether digital intelligence, authentication, preventing chargebacks, sending alerts, and notifications. Affirm needed a solution that covered the customer lifecycle to build a complete risk assessment within a matter of seconds by examining a consumer’s digital footprint and easily engaging with customers.

Affirm added Telesign to its tech stack for its cohesion of solutions comprised of digital identity and programmable communications.

Often, filling out an application or creating a new account can be an arduous, drawn-out process, causing user friction and shopper abandonment. Offered at the point of sale (POS) at more than 6,000 merchants, consumers can opt to pay with Affirm and almost instantaneously receive a credit decision. To improve both the retailer and shopper experience, Affirm uses data points in the identification and fraud security stack, enabling Affirm to seamlessly process applications in less time.

The solution

When a merchant accepts a check, there is a non-zero chance of it being fraudulent. But by leveraging Telesign as part of their security stack, Affirm can safeguard a purchase using digital identity intelligence. Affirm identifies valid purchases and protects sales to diminish the risk for online merchants.

By presenting Affirm as a choice at the POS, some of the world’s largest enterprise companies have built new revenue streams while maintaining security, branding, and pricing integrity. By offering Affirm and its tech stack, one online retailer saw a 16%+ increase in average order value after integrating Affirm’s buy now and pay later payment option. Another retailer experienced a 10%+ increase in conversion once Affirm was presented at checkout. As part of a growth strategy, Affirm’s addition of Telesign’s world-class data layered with additional providers generates risk assessments that enable legitimate transactions, leading to higher sales conversions. In addition, Affirm has been able to automate payment reminders by incorporating Telesign’s programmable communication capabilities.

Telesign is part of Affirm’s holistic approach to security. Affirm absorbs Telesign data inputs through their proprietary algorithms to make informed decisions. Affirm can still verify their authenticity for legitimate consumers who may have limited access to credit, making credit accessible.

When a consumer chooses to make a purchase using Affirm, they find out if they’re approved in a matter of seconds.

“Knowing a consumer is who they say they are, is a tremendous value add,” said Affirm’s Head of Financial Partnerships.

Throughout their customer lifecycle, Affirm customers receive friendly reminders for upcoming payments or past due statements to keep them up to date on their account. Incorporating Telesign’s programmatic communications into the Affirm solution as part of Affirm’s marketing automation is a simple solution that encourages and reminds customers to pay.