Jack Dorsey's Square (SQ) is spending $29 billion on an Australian buy now, pay later firm — a massive purchase that will help his company build out its global payments empire. Square — the financial payments company known for its popular Cash App — said it plans to merge Afterpay with its existing apps. That will give "even the smallest of merchants" the ability offer buy now, pay later services at checkout, among other offerings.
Afterpay was founded in 2015 and launched in America in 2018. It's best known for its buy now, pay later offerings — a service that allows customers to divide retail and online payments into installments. Such offerings have grown in popularity as a way to reach younger consumers and keep up with the rapid shift to online shopping in the pandemic. Payment analysts have pointed to the trend as particularly popular among Millennials and Generation Z, who are wary of taking on credit card debt.
Afterpay, meanwhile, is among the most prominent companies in the space. Square says 100,000 merchants globally use the platform, and that it has more than 16 million customers. Square said it expects the all-stock deal to close in the first quarter of 2022. Dorsey, who serves as Square's CEO in addition to Twitter's (TWTR), said Square and Afterpay have a "shared purpose."
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