When you have just sat with a cup of coffee to review your bank statement, everything seems to be very good, and you might be enjoying the quick review of your financials.
However, things will become troubling when you get to see cryptic line items like Fenix Internet LLC, SP* AFF, etc.
Why?
It will raise several questions in your mind, like what is this charge? Why is it appearing on your bank statement?
Did you actually make the charge, or has it been debited mistakenly?
How will you get the refund?
Can it be some fraudulent activity?
And many more.
The emotions you feel when you spot an unfamiliar charge are experienced by many. However, resolving the problem and identifying the charge remains elusive.
The financial jargon might be easier to understand and less challenging for people who research and increase their knowledge about the matter.
Therefore, we recommend regularly reviewing your financial statements, learning about unfamiliar charges, rectifying errors, or increasing your know-how about financial jargon.
Today’s article will discuss an uncommon charge that might appear on your bank or card statements.
We will discuss the SP* AFF charge on your bank statement, which you discovered during the financial review.
The article will offer insights into what the term means, why it might have gotten on your bank account or credit card and how to resolve it if it is an unauthenticated charge.
So let’s get into it.
Why Is It Important To Regularly Review Your Bank Statements?
Regularly reviewing your statements is necessary if you want to make sure that your personal financial goals are well taken care of.
When you don’t have the habit of reviewing your financials, it can cost you a lot as some suspicious charges or fraudulent transactions might be robbing you.
The write-up on why to regularly review your bank statements might never end up. However, we can sum up the main reasons why you should not ignore your bank statements and card statements.
Here is why you should spend some time reviewing your financial transactions and statements to make sure that everything appearing on your statements actually belongs to you:
Save Yourself From Fraudulent Charges
One of the significant factors in financial transactions is the timeliness of the action. Even if something suspicious has occurred to your account, timely action can save you from fraud.
Therefore, when you’re regularly reviewing your bank statements, you can identify fraudulent activities on time.
Save Money By Paying Legitimate Charges Only
As we have mentioned, some fees charged to your bank account might be due to a mistake at the end of the charging company or the bank.
Therefore, when you’re not negligent and give time to review your financial statements, you can track the origin of all charges and save money by not paying anything that doesn’t belong to your account.
A Better Perspective OF Your Spending And Income
Regularly reviewing your financial statements and bank accounts for tracking your income and expenses is generally a good habit.
It helps you set your personal finance goals, track them, and be ahead of any uncertainties or emergency expenses.
Having a snapshot of your financial position also helps you plan your expenses accordingly.
What Is SP* AFF On Your Bank Statement?
Let’s talk about the SP* AFF charge appearing on your bank statements. So here is what you need to know about the possibility of such unfamiliar charges appearing in your financial transactions.
The charge appears on your financial statements when you have used the BNPL services of Affirm. BNPL stands for buy now, pay later loans offered by different fintech companies.
The charge SP* AFF specifically indicates the charge is related to the company Affirm.
When you use the BNPL service of a fintech company, your bank account will be charged with the SP* AFF charge. Essentially, SP* AFF stands for Service Provider Affiliate Charge.
You must wonder if the charge is specific to a company or relates to specific companies. According to our research, the users who had consumed BNPL services of Affirm experienced the nominal charges under the head of SP* AFF on their bank statements.
What Is Affirm?
Affirm is a reputable company that offers financial solutions to individual users. The company specializes in buying now and paying loans for shopping lovers later.
It has gained a reputation as the market leader in the niche for diverse solutions and short-term loans to customers.
If you qualify for short-term loans, the company allows you to enjoy a shopping spree without worrying about immediate payments.
The fintech company was founded in January 2012 by Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Alex Rampbell, and Jeffery Kaditz. T
he company’s current CEO is Max Levchin, who has also been on the founding team of PayPal. Affirm also entered multiple partnerships and also launched its app in 2017.
Why Is SP* AFF Is On My Bank Statement?
Some users have reported that the SP* AFF might be a fraudulent charge or suspicious transaction on your bank account.
However, the facts are opposite to this. The charge is only deducted from the accounts that have used the BNPL services of fintech companies and, more importantly, the services of Affirm.
Therefore, when you see the charge on your bank statement, you or your family member has likely used the BNPL solution offered by Affirm.
But suppose you’re unsure why the charge is appearing on your bank statement. In that case, you should verify it by reviewing your statements, tracking emails, and discussing it with your family members.
How To Confirm If The Charge Is Rightly Debited To Your Account?
Once you see the charge and fail to recognize it, don’t panic. Instead, you should verify whether the charge belongs to your account.
Here are steps to confirm that the charges appearing on your banking statements are rightly yours:
- Check Your Emails And Transactions
When you see any unfamiliar charge on your account, the first thing to do is recall your memory and ask yourself questions like Did you sign up for a new online service recently? Could this be an annual subscription renewal?
To track any transaction, you should check your financial transactions and old emails mentioning the service or product you purchased via Affirm’s BNPL solution.
If you have found the relevant email, it’s well and good. Otherwise, you will need to move on to the next step for confirmation.
- Discuss And Confirm With Your Family Members
When your bank account is shared with other family members like your spouse, siblings, children, etc., someone else may incur expenses and subsequent bills appearing in front of you. The case of SP* AFF can also be the same. Therefore, you should ask every person sharing your account if they have used Affirm’s BNPL service.
- Confirm With Bank
When none of you or your family members have undergone any transaction related to SP* AFF, it’s time to contact the banking company.
Call the bank’s customer support and inquire about the charge appearing on your bank statement.
How To Rectify Unauthorized Charges?
Once you have confirmed from everywhere that the charge doesn’t belong to you, you will surely be worried about rectifying the error and saving your money in the mistaken entry.
Although the chances of such mistaken charges are minimum, here is what you need to do for rectification of mistaken charges:
- Contact your bank and inquire about the charge made to your account. Make sure to have the documentary evidence with you before initiating the call.
- After confirmation of charges made to your account illegitimately, you might become eligible for a refund, depending on the company’s policy. Therefore, file the dispute for refund after careful analysis of the terms and conditions.
- Wait for the dispute resolution to end with a refund in your account or for the charging company to be on the right side.
Conclusion
We have shared everything you need to know about the possibility of the SP* AFF charge appearing on your bank statement.
The most probable reason why an unidentifiable charge appears on your bank statement relates to the forgotten subscription, free trials, and other one-time charges by third-party billing companies for using their services.
In the case of SP* AFF, the charges relate to a one-time payment charged by a third-party billing company for using BNPL services.
If you’re sure the charge is unrelated to you, you can contact your bank and get an appropriate resolution.