Affirm Writing Guidelines

Contents 

1. Brand voice
2. House style
   
   • Punctuation
   • Casing & capitalization
   • Dates & numbers
   • Pronouns
   • Emojis
   • Articles: a, an, THE
3. International writing guidelines
4. Compliance & legal best practices
   
   • Compliance overview & resources
   • Legal overview & resources
   • “As low as” messaging
5. Word list

 

This article outlines the essential guidance for creating content that adheres to Affirm’s writing guidelines

 

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Brand voice

A defined brand voice is vital to ensuring our brand sounds consistent and clear across all touchpoints. Refer to our brand guidelines for more, including creative examples.

 

Sharp, not snarky

• We’re smart and incisive, with a witty, relatable edge. We’re never cynical or mean-spirited.
  • What it sounds like
    
    Money doesn’t grow on fees   (Better than CCs)
    Make money in your sleep   (Savings)
    
    
  • What it doesn’t
    
    Still using that one-trick credit card?  (Better than CCs)
    Bet your current APY is lower than ours   (Savings)

 

Sincere, not schmaltzy

• We know our role in your life. We’re rooting for you, we believe in you, but we understand we’re “not on this journey” with you.
  • What it sounds like
    
    On a budget? Don’t budge it.  (Flexibility)
    We’re always around—but in a good way  (Ubiquity)
    
    
  • What it doesn’t
    
    
    Your budget will breathe a sigh of relief  (flexibility)
    Find us wherever your journey takes you   (Ubiquity)

 

To-the-point, not harsh

• We tell it like it is, without being flippant or blunt. We neither embellish the facts nor hide what’s most important.
  • What it sounds like
    
    Smarter than the average card  (Affirm card)
    Credit isn’t the problem. Credit cards can be.  (Why use Affirm)
    
    
  • What is doesn’t
    
    Your credit card sucks  (Affirm card)
    If you are not using Affirm, you are doing it wrong  (Why use Affirm)

 

Encouraging, not irresponsible

• We support people in getting the things they want and need, but we’ll never tell them to make financial decisions that aren’t in their best interest.
  • What it sounds like
    
    Let your budget to the shopping  (Spending)
    See how much you can spend  (Purchasing power)
    
    
  • What it doesn’t
    
    You deserve to splurge  (Spending)
    You’ve got plenty to spend  (Purchasing power)

 

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House style

In addition to abiding by our brand voice (as outlined above and in our brand guidelines), keep the following specifics in mind as you’re writing copy or content for Affirm. The information that follows will not cover every grammar or stylistic question that may arise. When in doubt, default to AP Style.

 

Punctuation

Periods

• Don’t use periods in headlines or subject lines, with the exception of two-sentence headlines (both sentences would have periods in that case) 
• Use periods in subheads, body copy, and preheaders
  
  

Commas

• Use Oxford/serial commas
  
  

Exclamation points

• Avoid—reserve for when something is truly exciting and only use one per communication
  
  

Dashes

• Use em-dashes (—) to connect two thoughts (replacing a period or semicolon) 
• Use en-dashes (–) to signify a numerical range (eg. 0–3% APR, June 8–12) 
• Never interchange em- and en-dashes
• Never use a hyphen (-) in place of an em- or en-dash
• Don’t use spaces around em- or en-dashes or hyphens 
• Keyboard shortcuts
  • Em-dash (—) = SHIFT + OPTION + hyphen (-)
  • En-dash (–) = OPTION + hyphen (-)
    
    

Ampersands

• Avoid in body copy
• Okay to use stylistically in headlines, bulleted lists, or CTA copy
  
  

Ellipses (...)

• Avoid (in most cases, other punctuation will do)
  
  

Semicolons

• Avoid (in most cases, other punctuation will do)
  
  

Apostrophes

• Always use contractions (don't vs. do not)
  
  

No-asterisks policy

• Never use asterisks or reference symbols
• Our no-asterisks policy is a meaningful way for us to express our commitment to honesty and transparency. We should never make claims that would mislead a reasonable person, and consumers should never be surprised by anything in our disclosures or agreements
• No matter the situation, every Affirmer should feel empowered to boldly advance the values of honesty and transparency that make Affirm the transparent financial company that it is

 

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Casing & capitalization

• Use sentence case for headlines, subheads, body copy, and CTAs 
• All caps can be used sparingly as a stylistic choice (particularly in headlines or word art),
  • but be mindful of length and legibility
• Only use title case for proper nouns (eg. Affirm Savings, Affirm Card, Google Slides)—never use it stylistically (including for titles in decks, etc.)
• When in doubt, default to sentence case.

 

Dates & numbers

Dates

• Days & months
  • Spell out in marketing copy and when used in a complete sentence or header
    (eg. Your payment’s due in April)
  • Spell out when used in absence of other specific date information
    
    
• Full/partial dates
  • Abbreviate as Mon XX, XXXX or Mon XXXX
  • For date ranges, use an en-dash with no spaces

 

Numbers & percentages

• Abbreviate thousands and millions in statistics and headlines using "K" and "M" respectively; spell them out in body copy
  
  • Headline/stat: 16M users
  • Body copy: Tap into our network of 16 million users
    
    

• Use numerals in text unless it starts a sentence, eg: 

  • Your payment is due in 3 days
  • Three days until your next payment
    
    

• For numbers greater than 999, use a comma, eg. $10,000
  
  

• Express numbers with decimals to 2 places, even when the final numeral is 0,
  eg. 4.20% APY
  
  • But omit trailing 00s, eg. $10,000 not $10,000.00
    
    

• It's okay to use whole-number percentages when not associated with a specific APR

  • As low as 5% APR
  • From 7–12% APR

 

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Pronouns

Use pronouns (subjective, objective, and possessive) when there’s space. It makes our writing sound more personal and less transactional.

• Keep it to you, your, and we, us, and our (it's also OK to use I, my, and their when called for)
• Don’t use he, him, his or she, her, hers

 

Emojis

• Don’t use emojis in marketing communications— specifically push and email (subject lines, preheaders)—as testing has shown us they perform better without 
• Emojis may still be appropriate in transactional communications
• When in doubt, ask your marketing or product project driver

 

Articles: a, an, the

Use articles when there’s space. It helps our content sound friendly and conversational instead of robotic.

• Create an account (not Create account)
• Choose a payment plan (not Choose payment plan)

 

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International writing guidelines

Referring to these guidelines will help us all express our brand with conviction, clarity, and consistency—and that’s what it’s all about.

Canada 

Spelling

 

Localization considerations

• Because assets often need to be translated into Canada French, be mindful of relying on wordplay or turns of phrase that won’t translate—consider avoiding these, or create a more straightforward alternative for translation instead
• French is a language of long words—keep your copy short and concise to avoid creating a text-dense asset in French

 

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Compliance & legal best practices

Compliance overview & resources

In our highly regulated financial space, it’s imperative to keep compliance best practices top of mind in our copy. These include:

• Disclosing a full range of APRs any time a specific APR is mentioned
• Accompanying Reg Z trigger terms (down payment, monthly payment amount, or term length) with representative examples
  • eg. Referencing “3, 6, or 12 months” triggers a disclosure
• Ensuring disclosures are clear and conspicuous, worded in a clear and human way, and placed in a location where consumers are likely to look

For further details, please visit:

• Installments US marketing compliance guide
• Affirm Pay in 4 US marketing compliance guide
• Adaptive Checkout US marketing compliance guide

 

Legal overview & resources

While we may want to position ourselves as challengers to credit cards (or the traditional credit system) where it makes sense, be cautious with how you convey this message. Be especially wary when:

• Making comparative claims
• Talking about what our products do and offer 
• Promoting special offers and deals

 

"As low as" messaging

Depending on the details around the promotion, our no-interest special rates often require “as low as” messaging (eg. as low as 0% APR). Refer to the details of your specific project brief.

To be more conversational and sound less “banky,” you can also use “no interest” or “interest-free” in copy. When referring to Pay in 4, always use “no interest” (never "0% APR").

 

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Word list

Here's a quick guidance on some common words that can be tricky to use correctly according to our guidelines:

APR vs. APY
Use APR (annual percentage rate) to express how much interest a user pays for a loan. Use APY (annual percentage yield) to express how much interest a user earns on their savings.

Biweekly, bimonthly
Don't use it, as these terms are ambiguous. Use phrases like "every 2 weeks" instead.

Buy vs, purchase
When using it as a verb, always opt for "buy"—it's shorter and more conversational than "purchase." However, it's okay to use "purchase" as a noun.

Choose vs. select
Use "choose" when a user is choosing an option from a menu, for example, or making some other choice among a number of options ("choose your payment plan"). Use "select" to mean interacting with an element of the UI (selecting a checkbox, for example).

Click vs. tap
Users click UI elements if they're using a PC; they tap UI elements if they're using a phone or tablet.

Compound interest
Use instead of "compounding interest."

Consumer vs. customer vs. user

When there's space, try to refer to people who use Affirm as "customers" instead of "users." For internal- or B2B-facing documents, use "consumers."

 

Deals, special rates, rewards, offers

• Use "deals" when referring to $-off promotions
• Use "special rates" when referring to low APR promotions
• Use "rewards" when the consumer will get something back for their purchase (like our rewards program)
• Never use "offers"
  
  

Loan vs. payment plan or “pay over time”
Avoid describing any Affirm product as a loan. Instead, depending on the context, refer to it as a way to pay over time or reference available payment plans.

Turn on, turn off vs. enable, disable
Always use "turn on" or "turn off" instead of "enable" and "disable." Always keep the two words together, as in "turn on AutoPay." In other words, don't say "turn AutoPay on."

Purchasing power vs. prequalification vs. preapproval
"Purchasing power" is how we merchandise our prequalifying process. Use this in headlines or prominent copy as it leads with the benefit of prequalification and is less technical sounding. Use "prequalification" as a qualifier in subheads or body copy to help explain exactly what "purchasing power" means, or when you need to be more specific for legal or compliance reasons. Never use "preapproval."

Sign in vs. log in
Always use "sign in" instead of "log in."

 

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