The ‘buy now, pay later (BNPL) space is pretty big both in Australia and overseas, and Afterpay is one of the bigger players. The BNPL is basically an installment plan without interest, where you spread out your payments when you buy something.
Approximately 100,000 merchants - including some of the world’s largest retailers - accept Afterpay as of June 30.
Adding this BNPL giant to the Square arsenal of payments solutions, combining to create a market like no other, Square has now completed an all-stock deal worth approximately $29 billion.
Through collaboration, Square will be able to integrate Afterpay with its award-winning Cash App - 40 million people transact with it each month - for a seamless, unified experience that will encourage further brand loyalty and value.
With traditional credit cards and interest rates increasingly unattractive to a broader market, the BNPL space is growing in popularity, especially with younger consumers. By offering such a product, companies hope to turn these consumers into lifelong customers. As a result, BNPL providers such as Klarna in Europe, Affirm, and Afterpay are becoming more popular.
Apple has even introduced a BNPL plan of its own recently, so clearly, this competition is heating up.
This industry should be interesting to watch going forward, and we will see how Square implements its latest purchase, and whether it will pull ahead of its competitors.
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Originally posted on Cash Nut. Hive blog powered by ENGRAVE.
