To expand further into the booming instalment loan market, Square recently announced its plans to buy Australian fintech Afterpay. Jack Dorsey’s payments fintech announced the $29 billion, all-stock deal. He was also quoted saying “We built our business to make the financial system more open, accessible, and inclusive, and Afterpay has developed a trusted brand aligned with those beliefs.”
The San Francisco-based fintech extends instalment loans, which said it has been a “powerful growth tool” for Square’s core seller business. It plans to combine Afterpay into both its seller and Cash App ecosystems.
Reportedly, the company sees the acquisition as an occasion to build a “more powerful e-commerce platform” that satisfies growing consumer interest in “transparent buying opportunities” and allows new ideas for merchants to assist their customers.
Afterpay offers customers pay in 4 interest-free installments and pay a fee if missed an automated payment. The company’s 16 million customers will eventually be able to take care of installment payments directly through Cash App. The deal is reportedly to close in the 1st quarter of 2022.
