Square To Australia’s Afterpay For $29B

Jack Dorsey’s Square (SQ) is spending US$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 — stated it plans to merge Afterpay with its existing apps. That will give “even the smallest of merchants” the ability to 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.

Dorsey, who serves as Square’s CEO in addition to Twitter’s, said Square and Afterpay have a “shared purpose.”

“We built our business to make the financial system more fair, accessible, and inclusive, and Afterpay has built a trusted brand aligned with those principles,” he said in a statement. “Together, we can better connect our Cash App and Seller ecosystems to deliver even more compelling products and services for merchants and consumers, putting the power back in their hands.”

Afterpay co-CEOs Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar said the move “marks an important recognition of the Australian technology sector as homegrown innovation continues to be shared more broadly throughout the world.”

“By combining with Square, we will further accelerate our growth in the U.S. and globally, offer access to a new category of in-person merchants, and provide a broader platform of new and valuable capabilities and services to our merchants and consumers,” they said in a statement.

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