#Afterpay app update#

Afterpay’s buy now, pay later service and shopping directories are being integrated into the app.

But Cash App, used by around 45 million Americans, has not been available.Ĭash App allows US customers to invest in equities, buy bitcoin, file tax returns, hold deposits and spend. Square payment terminals are prominent in Australia and its business lending is growing.

#Afterpay app update#

The Australian Financial Review reported the day after the Block acquisition of Afterpay was announced in August last year that the Afterpay-Westpac alliance would be reconsidered in light of Westpac’s concerns about Square as a competitor in the market.īlock CEO Jack Dorsey has said in recent earnings briefings and a strategy update that the company is keen to launch its main products, including Cash App, in all the markets that it operates. “A change of ownership naturally sees partnerships evolve and we have been working co-operatively with Afterpay on this transition to ensure a smooth customer pathway,” said Westpac BaaS CEO Damien MacRae.

Flare, a platform to help employers engage workers, and SocietyOne, a personal lender acquired by MoneyMe, are other customers of the BaaS offering. Westpac has struggled to attract younger customers and sees banking-as-a-service (BaaS) as a way to increase its younger customer base by standing behind alternative distributors of financial products. The move is a blow to Westpac’s “banking as a service” ambitions, as it looked to offer regulated deposits to customers of fintechs with an eye to offering mortgages and loans down the track.Īfterpay was the flagship customer for the strategy, which will continue. Afterpay declined to provide this information on Friday.Ī source in the company said it was pleased with customer uptake since the October launch, and the decision to close Money is about Block’s strategy rather than traction in the market.Īfterpay Money was using Westpac but the relationship has ended. Neither Afterpay nor Westpac has disclosed how many use Money by Afterpay, nor the dollar amount of deposits held. “Our decision to move in this new direction is due to our exciting next chapter with Block, particularly as we think about Cash App opportunities here in Australia,” she said in a statement. Lee Hatton, the lead executive of Money by Afterpay, is staying on with Block. While it was willing to support Afterpay’s customers, Block is a more direct competitor given its Square unit makes business loans in Australia. Westpac said it will help Afterpay customers transfer funds to accounts of their choice or make “competitive offers” to those who stay with Westpac.

There are no redundancies on the Afterpay side after the closure with the Money team shifting to Block, which sees value in the intellectual property Afterpay Money has developed over the past two years. It has stopped accepting new customers from Friday.īlock, which acquired Afterpay last year, is considering Cash App’s launch in Australia. Louie Douvisīut Afterpay will close the app – which was offered separately to the main buy now, pay later service – on October 10. Lee Hatton: Block is thinking about Cash App opportunities in Australia. It launched last October, targeting young, female customers, Afterpay’s core demographic. Money by Afterpay was unveiled with much fanfare in October 2020, under a relationship with Westpac, which provided its banking licence to the buy now, pay later giant, allowing it to offer customers savings accounts. Afterpay will kill off its Money app next month, citing the acquisition by Block and the potential launch of Block’s Cash App in the Australian market.