REX: Afterpay Instalment Option Hits Success in the US
FACTS
- The Australian FinTech Afterpay Touch reports on their 2018 results and strong underlying growth after a successful launch in the US.
- In 2018, sales processed on their platform increased more than two-fold from $918M in H1 2018 to $2.2Bn.
- These encouraging results can be explained by the introduction of their Buy Now - Pay Later option in the UK and, chiefly, in the US in 2018. The US alone accounted for half of their sales figure ($1.5Bn). In just a few months their service turned out to be as successful as Klarna or Affirm.
- Business model:
- of their revenue in transaction fees changed to merchants acceptors.
- of their revenue from late fees charged to their customers; According to Afterpay, this proportion has been declining since they started capping these fees.
Afterpay: Key Figures (2018)
- 23,000 partner merchants
- 3.1M active customers in the last 12 months
- Market share in Australia: 25% on e-purchases for fashion and beauty products
CHALLENGES
- Considering this growth, the Melbourne-based start-up intends to become a viable alternative to conventional credit solutions, especially to credit cards. This position has been put to question by Australian authorities as they just looked into Afterpay’s business model to decide whether or not this FinTech should be subject to the same rules as local consumer lending players.
- Bet on young US customers’ reluctance to rely on credit solutions. This generation is already heavily in debt due to the weight of their student loans. Two third of these customers do not use credit cards and are interested in Afterpay’s payment facilities where no additional fees apply.
MARKET PERSPECTIVE
- This Buy Now - Pay Later service comes at no extra cost when customers pay back on time. However, fees apply in case of late payment: 25% of the product’s price or $68.
- The Australian instalment market grew substantially throughout 2018, hence this special attention paid by local authorities to industry players such as Afterpay.