We're going to get to the results. But before that, I want to talk about

the consumer because you have this great real time view using what many people

would argue is, you know, crucial alternative data to understand the view

of the consumer. How would you describe the American

consumer right now? You know, I think the affirm consumer,

the ones we interact with all the time and see is healthy.

They are paying us back on time. They are shopping.

They are taking advantage of the 0% deals that we also offer them.

So all those things are still going swimmingly.

I think it's impossible to ignore that. Gas prices are elevated for them just

like anyone else. And it inflation, as you just heard,

Chairman of Federal Reserve tell us, is still stubbornly sticking above its

target. I think they are stretching their

budgets when they need to do it. And frankly, that actually increased the

demand for a firm. So in some ways, we are asked by our

consumers to step up to the plate and help them manage their family budgets

more often in the current environment, but by and large, they are healthy.

But what are they buying? Are they buying these high expensive

items Are they using this program to to buy things like, you know, to pay for,

um, utility bills to do things like that?

What are they buying and what are they using it for?

Again, in our portfolio by far, we are called upon to finance homewares,

sporting equipment. There's a lot of Back-To-School expenses

that families incur right now. So everybody's buying something for

their kids if those are going back to school.

So that's the bread and butter of of urban has been for a very long time.

Generally speaking, we are not huge fans of financing recurrent transactions and

take steps to make sure our consumers don't give themselves a false sense of

security by stretching something that is a subscription into a longer

subscription. That's not a financially healthy

decision. As you know, we don't charge late fees

specifically, so we can align ourselves with our borrowers when they borrow.

Without a clear plan to pay us back, we will just lose money.

And so we routinely orient her models to declined applications for loans that

imply lots of pushing off of the financial responsibility.

We love our consumers. To be financially responsible, we are

here to help them be so. Are you noticing any changes in the rate

of declines when somebody is applying to use a firm

rate? Decline is something that we set.

In fact, if you've said 1 or 2 to a super short crash course on how a firm

works, we set eight acceptable loss rate for us, given macroeconomic signals that

we get to see that dictates the rate of approval, rate of decline as a function,

of course, of the critical. So it doesn't it doesn't change based on

the individual who is applying for it, but it absolutely changes.

What I'm saying is that we work backwards from the question you posed.

We decide what our acceptable loss rate will look like, and that in turn sets or

dictates what the approval rates will be.

If you want to sort of take a very macro view of our position relative to the

credit application set that we see every day, we're probably slightly more

restrictive than we were this time last year, but again, nothing dramatic.

So how do you compare to the competition out there?

Um, there's Klarna, there's other ways. There's traditional credit cards as

well. I mean, what sets you apart from that?

Well, first of all, I think our results do set us apart.

Uh, I don't want to throw shade at anyone, but, uh, I think we've grown 30

plus percent for the last 11 quarters, if memory serves.

And for 12 months, we've been consistently out, profitable and many

other accolades. And we may be the only ones in the space

that have been able to print these consistent results while growing really

quickly while remaining profitable. So at least we are a really well-managed

company, I would argue, in terms of why merchants and consumers choose us

much more frequently. I would argue it than our competitors.

Twofold one. We, in fact add a lot of volume to our

merchant partners while always making them look great.

We don't charge late fees. We don't compound interest.

We don't defer interest. We are extremely transparent to our

borrowers what the cost will be, and we reward them for paying on time and even

paying early, which is quite different from traditional financial services.

So merchants love us because we make them look great while making them more

affordable. Consumers love us because we are so

transparent, because we create pockets of access to credit for them in a way

that isn't just transparent, it's also responsible and they know it.

We make it our business to make sure they understand that when we tell them

no, it's not because we're finicky, but because we genuinely believe it's a bad

idea for them to borrow more than they can afford to pay back.

And most of them really appreciate that. And so I think we're quite different.

We're we're different breed. And the DNA of the company is in

underwriting and precision and transparency and you know frankly

quality to that. That's what's true in our success in

this in this market and beyond. Perhaps one way you could differentiate

from the competition would be to get a bank charter.

You applied for a bank charter earlier this year.

Can you give us the status of that application?

Uh, it's in process. It's exactly the sort of thing that

you're not done until you are. It's a very, very rigorous process that

the regulators make sure you have to go through without any shortcuts.

And we certainly appreciate that. So I can't tell you very much about the

state of the process. It is ongoing.

But, you know, it's a thing that we don't require to operate, but we

certainly would absolutely welcome being members of that particular club.

It certainly helps clarify exact are our exact, uh, regulatory status.

And over time, it will feed into our cost of funds as bank of a firm.

Should it should it be granted over time becomes a source of funding for a loan

portfolio. So if you don't get it it's fine.

Yeah. But we certainly hope to get it okay.

Do you think you will get it? I think I will report back if and when

we do. Fair enough.

You're trying to me. You're doing it, and I love it, I love

it. I, um, I will do our jobs.

Yes, exactly. Uh, Max, I gotta say, you've been doing.

The company has been doing very well with, um, e-commerce.

What's your strategy for in-store spending?

I'm a huge believer in, uh, relevance of a firm in store.

It's actually something that I am personally very focused on.

We just announced a very minor reorg, but allowing me personally to spend more

time inside our innovation lab called ZT 1021, and one of the many projects

working on is making a firm in store even better than we've been online.

Online, we add 30% more volume through better conversion, through access to

credit to consumers offline. We do more or less the same, but the

participation in the offline world for us right now is quite de minimis other

than our a firm part. So we're going to invest heavily in

making the card even better, even more rewarding.

But we also have some really clever ideas on how to make the in-store

experience just a stand out. Great thing I noticed from not anything,

but if you can tell I'm very excited by what we're going to do in store.

So watch this space, ask me again in a quarter and I'll show some real results,

I think. Well, are you also excited about.

I think it was last September. You allowed users to put the card on on

Apple Pay. Um, hat was that coming along?

It's great. Uh, we love all of our digital wallet

partners. It's just another way of bringing a firm

with you in store. We're seeing really healthy growth, not

just through the plastic taps and swipes, but also through digital

wallets, online and offline. But offline in particular is just such a

big unlock. And so we're doing really well there and

quite excited to do more.