EXCLUSIVE- Point-of-sale lender Affirm raised $200 million in a new funding round, bringing its total equity funding to $450 million.

The Series E round was led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC. Other investors included Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Founders Fund, Spark Capital, Caffeinated Capital, Ribbit Capital and others.

This new round in funding increases the company’s valuation to range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, from a previous valuation of $800 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In an email to Bank Innovation, Affirm CEO (and PayPal co-founder) Max Levchin, stated:

This funding allows Affirm to continue to grow our point of sale credit business, expand into new verticals, offer new services for our merchant partners, build new products within the new Affirm App and begin our international expansion.

The Affirm app was first launched in October. It provides customers a virtual card for online purchases. The app, which is available on both iOS and Android Google Play, also lets users split larger online purchases into smaller fixed payments. Customers can make payments to Affirm through this app, with the option of setting up automated payments.

In addition to its app, Affirm has spent the year building out its roster of merchant partners. Currently, the company has 1,200 partnerships with companies like Wayfair, Expedia, Goodyear, Motorola, DJI, Casper, and Cole Haan, among others.

Based in San Francisco, Affirm was founded in 2012 by fintech veteran Max Levchin.

The company was formed with the intention of reinventing the credit system in the U.S., which according to Levchin is “fundamentally broken.” Affirm seeks to do this by providing short-term loans to candidates at the POS without allowing their FICO score to impact the process.

For the loan, Affirm charges no fees or retroactive interest. The company finances retail purchases by providing loans ranging between $200- $10,000. The average loan is $750.

To apply, users must provide their name, mobile phone number, email address, birthday, and last four digits of their social security number. Affirm told Bank Innovation that its underwriting approval rate is 126% higher than the industry average.

In April, Affirm reached an important milestone by issuing its one millionth consumer installment loan. Affirm’s bank partner is New Jersey-based Cross River Bank.

To learn more about the latest developments in digital lending and mobile banking, join us on March 5-6, 2018 at the Parc 55 in San Francisco for Bank Innovation 2018. Click here to register.