Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM) CEO Max Levchin laid out the company's growth roadmap Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026, setting an annual gross merchandise volume target of $100 billion and a long-term ambition of reaching $1 trillion within "a handful of years."
Levchin described a 25% growth algorithm underpinning the target, divided roughly equally between point-of-sale products and the direct-to-consumer franchise, each contributing approximately 10 percentage points. An additional 1 to 5 percentage points are expected from newer initiatives including international expansion and bank distribution.
The Affirm Card has become a significant contributor to that mix, growing more than 100% year-over-year and now accounting for nearly 20% of total GMV, up from a single-digit share. The active card base remains under 10 million. Spending by card users averages about $4,000 — roughly double the approximately $2,000 average spend of the broader Affirm consumer base.
A major focus of the presentation was ZT 1, an internal innovation lab Levchin described as a "startup within a startup." Prior to recent organizational changes, Levchin allocated 45 to 60 minutes per week to ZT 1; he now dedicates multiple sessions lasting several hours each week. The team comprises a handful of engineers, product managers, an analyst, and a full-time operator. Levchin said the goal is to launch one new product annually from the lab, noting the cadence is not the hard metric — it is the pathway to the $1 trillion GMV target.
Consumers using ZT 1 products spend about $8,000 per user, representing roughly 80% of disposable income, according to Levchin. Brand-sponsored promotions tied to the division are running in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Levchin also discussed Affirm's zero-percent financing offering, which relies on five core technologies: Universal Financing Programs, BoostAI, AdaptAI, underwriting systems, and settlement infrastructure. He stressed that Affirm's 0% loans carry no deferred interest, even if a customer becomes delinquent. The financing product has lifted merchant basket sizes by about 80% and conversion rates by roughly 25%.
On the international front, the United Kingdom remains Affirm's most advanced market outside the U.S., while a partnership with Shopify recently launched the platform in Australia. A senior vice president of international strategy with over 12 years at the company was appointed to lead the effort.
Organizational restructuring saw responsibilities consolidated under President and COO Michael and longtime executive Libor, who serves as president and formerly served as CTO. Levchin said no team members were asked to leave and no one felt slighted enough to depart.
Affirm reported a gross profit margin of nearly 49%, and said it uses AI to drive productivity and "do more with the same number of people" rather than implementing headcount reductions, resulting in a downward-marching cost per feature shipped. The company stated it has underwritten more than 70 million Americans, with 50 million having transacted and 26 million to 27 million active over the trailing twelve months. Average tenure among direct reports stands at seven to eight years, with team-wide tenure exceeding five years.
