Afterpay

History

2021: Square bought Afterpay for $29 billion

At the end of July 2021, Square, created by the founder of ΟJack Dorsey, announced the acquisition of Afterpay's installment service for $29 billion. According to Square, consumers are increasingly avoiding traditional options in the form of credit, preferring to take products in installments, and now all payment and fintech companies from PayPal to American Express are in a hurry to launch their own version of the buy now, pay later system.

Square decided to buy the Australian fintech company Afterpay to enter the fast-growing installment lending market. Square notes that the number of customers of such services is growing rapidly, especially among young buyers. Square already offers installment loans and considers them a "powerful growth tool" for the core business. The owners of the company plan to integrate Afterpay into the ecosystem of sellers, as well as into the Cash application.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's company bought Afterpay installment service for $29 billion

Afterpay allows customers to make four interest-free payments, but asks for a fee if the buyer skips the automatic payment. The service already has 16 million customers who, after the final closure of the transaction, will be able to manage installment payments directly through the Cash application. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

So-called installment loans have existed for several decades and have previously been used to pay for expensive purchases, such as furniture. However, buyer requirements have changed, and now online payment companies are competing with each other, offering their own installment services for online goods worth no more than a few hundred. dollars Affirm - one of the most famous public fintech companies offering the possibility of installments, but similar products are already offered by PayPal,, and Klarna, Mastercard Fiserv American Express, Citi and. J.P. Morgan Chase^[1]

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