Modal vs Redirect checkout

Overview

Affirm enables your customers to go through the Affirm loan application flow using our Modal or Redirect checkout.

Modal

Users go through the Affirm flow in a modal while remaining on your site. Modal checkout also enables client-side callbacks so that you can receive confirmation checkout from affirm.js instead of HTTP.

Redirect

Users are redirected to Affirm's site, where they authenticate and go through the checkout flow. Once they complete checkout, they're returned to the merchant site.

Modal Checkout

Add a metadata flag to your checkout object.
Define callback functions (optional).

Add a metadata flag to your checkout object

Enable modal checkout by adding a new parameter to the checkout object metadata.

{
    ...,
      "metadata": {
        "mode":        "modal"
      },
    ...
}

mode

optional enum. Set to modal to enable the modal checkout flow (default uses redirect checkout flow).

Define callback functions (optional)

The affirm.checkout.open() function accepts an argument object where you can define success and failure callback functions.

{
    onFail: function(){yourAffirmCancelFunction()},
    onSuccess: function(success_object){yourAffirmSuccessFunction(success_object)},
    onOpen: function(){yourAffirmOpenFunction()},
    onValidationError: function(){yourAffirmCheckoutValidationFunction()}
}

onFail

optional function. Called when the customer exits, cancels, or is declined in the Affirm checkout flow.

onSuccess

optional function. Called when the customer confirms their Affirm loan. Receives success_object, which contains the checkout_token.

onOpen

optional function. Called when the customer successfully loads the Affirm checkout flow.

onValidationError

optional function. Called when there was a validation error with the checkout request submitted.

Test modal checkout

After implementing modal checkout, call affirm.checkout.open(). The modal checkout flow appears in a lightbox modal above your page contents. Use the the following code to test your modal checkout.

affirm.checkout.open({
    onFail: function(){
       console.log("User cancelled the Affirm checkout flow")},
    onSuccess: function(a){
       console.log("Affirm checkout successful, checkout token is: " + a.checkout_token)},
    onOpen: function(token){
       console.log("Affirm modal was opened successfully, checkout token is: " + token)},
    onValidationError: function(a) {
      console.log("onValidationError, respond to bad data here", a)}
});

Example code

Example checkout object

affirm.checkout({
 
      "merchant": {
        "user_confirmation_url":    "https://merchantsite.com/confirm",
        "user_cancel_url":          "https://merchantsite.com/cancel",
        "user_confirmation_url_action": "GET",
        "name": "Your Customer-Facing Merchant Name"
      },
       
      "metadata": {
        "mode":        "modal",
      },
       
      "shipping":{
        "name":{
          "first":"Joe",
          "last":"Doe"
        },
        "address":{
          "line1":"633 Folsom St",
          "city":"San Francisco",
          "state":"CA",
          "zipcode":"94107",
          "country":"USA"
        },
        "phone_number": "4151234567",
        "email": "[email protected]"
      },
      "billing":{
        "name":{
          "first":"Joe",
          "last":"Doe"
        },
        "address":{
          "line1":"633 Folsom St",
          "city":"San Francisco",
          "state":"CA",
          "zipcode":"94107",
          "country":"USA"
        },
        "phone_number": "4151234567",
        "email": "[email protected]"
      },
      "items": [{
        "display_name":         "Awesome Pants",
        "sku":                  "ABC-123",
        "unit_price":           1999,
        "qty":                  3,
        "item_image_url":       "http://merchantsite.com/images/awesome-pants.jpg",
        "item_url":             "http://merchantsite.com/products/awesome-pants.html"
      }],
 
      "discounts": {
        "RETURN5": {
          "discount_amount":    500,
          "discount_display_name": "Returning customer 5% discount"
        }
      },
       
      "shipping_amount":        1000,
      "tax_amount":             500,
      "total":                  6997
 
  });

Appendix

Third-party cookies

The modal checkout experience will be degraded if third-party cookies are not allowed and disabled within a browser's privacy and security settings. If third-party cookies are blocked, the Affirm checkout flow will require users to re-authenticate even if the "Remember my device" option is selected.

To allow third-party cookies, please follow the guides below for Google Chrome and Safari browsers.

Chrome

Go to Preferences > Advanced > Content Settings > Cookies.

Safari

1. Go to Safari > Settings for This Website... .

2. Uncheck Enable content blockers.