How To Get Cash from Affirm Virtual Card
In order to get a cash refund from Affirm Virtual Card, please contact the store where you bought your item to request a refund. They can let you know if a return is possible and how much the refund will be, according to their own return policy.
Once we receive the refund, the refund amount will show up in your loan timeline within 3–10 business days, and your balance will be updated.
When you’re approved for a loan in our app or on affirm.com, you can have the loan amount loaded onto a virtual Visa card. It’s meant to be used one-time only, at a merchant of your choice, either online or in-store (most merchants who accept Visa cards will accept an Affirm Visa virtual card as a form of payment).
Making payments
While you’re waiting for your refund, please continue to make any monthly payments that are due.
Refund application
Refund is less than balance
If your refund is less than your total purchase balance, it might not lower or cover your next monthly payment. Instead, you can expect fewer monthly payments, a smaller final payment, or both.
Refund is more than balance
If your refund is more than your purchase balance, you will get back the difference, minus any interest you have paid. Affirm will credit your payment method within 3–10 business days.
Getting a refund by check
When you get a refund for a returned purchase, Affirm refunds your money back to your original payment method. That means if you made payments by check (including money orders, MoneyGram, cashier’s check, and so on), you will receive your refund by check.
However, there are a few cases when you will get a refund by check when you originally paid with a debit card or ACH payment:
- The refund was initiated 180 days or more after the original payment.
- Your original payment method is closed or no longer active. Since Affirm cannot issue a refund to a different account, Affirm will refund by check.
- Our payment processor is unable to process the refund back to the original payment method.
To ensure you receive your refund in a timely manner, we want to make sure your address information on file is up to date. In most instances you should expect to receive your check within 30 days of when you became eligible for the refund.
Card expiration and leftover money
A virtual card expires 24 hours after it’s issued, and you won’t owe anything if you don’t use it. You can cancel the card at any point before it expires, and you won’t owe anything. It’s also fine to only use a portion of the funds. You’ll only owe the amount you spend, plus any accrued interest.
After the merchant processes your purchase, we’ll provide a payment schedule for the full card amount. After 21 days (or longer, depending on your transaction), we’ll return any funds you didn’t spend and update the payment schedule accordingly, you can expect a smaller final payment, fewer upcoming payments, or both.
We wait 21 days (or longer, depending on your transaction) because some merchants may take that long to process all the items in your order. In very rare cases, it may take up to 90 days to remove the unused amount from your loan balance.
How do I make a purchase with an Affirm virtual card?
You can request a virtual card in your Affirm account.
There are three places to access your virtual card: in the Affirm app, in your account on the Affirm website, or via the confirmation email we send you after you request the card.
When paying with your virtual card online, it works like a standard credit card. At checkout, choose credit card as your payment method, then enter the card number and other requested information.
Pay online
To pay online:
Go to checkout.
Choose to pay with a credit card.
Enter your virtual card’s 16-digit card number.
Enter your own billing address.
Complete checkout.
Use Apple Pay
To pay in a store with an iPhone 8 or earlier:
Before checkout, add your virtual card to Apple Pay.
At checkout, look for the Apple Pay symbol.
Hold your device near the card reader to open Apple Pay.
Tap to choose your virtual card.
Rest your finger on Touch ID until you see Done.
To pay in a store with an iPhone X or later:
Before checkout, add your virtual card to Apple Pay.
At checkout, look for the Apple Pay symbol.
Double-click the side button of your device to open Apple Pay.
Tap to choose your virtual card.
Glance at your device to verify with Face ID.
Hold your device near the card reader until you see Done.
Use Google Pay
To pay in a store with an Android device:
Before checkout, add your virtual card to Google Pay. Also, turn on NFC in settings.
At checkout, look for the Google Pay symbol.
Open Google Pay. Swipe to choose your virtual card.
Hold the back of your device near the card reader.
Choose Credit when prompted.
You’ll see a blue checkmark once you’ve paid.
