** Shares of U.S. fintech Affirm AFRM.O rise 3% in premarket trading
** Prudential Financial's PRU.N investment arm has agreed to buy up to $500 million of consumer loans from AFRM, WSJ reports
** Most loans will be due in six months, report adds
** AFRM will have the option to re-lend the investment throughout the life of the deal, allowing it to finance $3 billion of buy-now-pay-later loans, WSJ reports
** AFRM shares down 1.6% YTD, as of last close; they rose ~24% in 2024
(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru)
((Ateev.Bhandari@thomsonreuters.com;))