“Can a proprietary underwriting algorithm become the default POS financing layer for credit-underserved consumers across 20,000+ U.S. retail locations?”
Founded in 2013, American First Finance started as a lease-to-own (rent-to-own) and retail installment sales contract provider targeting consumers with poor, fair, or no credit at brick-and-mortar retail. Over time, the company broadened into a multi-product POS financing platform — adding Retail Installment Sale Agreements, an eCommerce plugin, and, most significantly, an embedded bank loan program through FinWise Bank. The FinWise partnership is the key embedded finance inflection: AFF acts as servicer while FinWise originates, underwrites, and holds the paper, enabling AFF to offer bank-rate installment loans without holding a bank charter. The company now operates a proprietary AI-based underwriting decisioning engine and markets itself as the infrastructure layer for retailers serving the credit-underserved consumer segment.
American First Finance discloses FinWise Bank as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
American First Finance does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through FinWise Bank.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in American First Finance's stack: Lending (Lease-to-Own (Rent-to-Own), Retail Installment Sale Agreement, Bank Installment Loan (Secured & Unsecured) — originated by FinWise Bank and eCommerce POS Financing); Sponsor bank (FinWise Bank).
American First Finance is founded in 2013 and headquartered in Wichita, Kansas (with satellite office in Dallas, TX).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against American First Finance and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.